Album Review: The Abominable Iron Sloth - The Id Will Overcome

Formed as a side project back in 2004 by four members of a Sacramento hardcore punk outfit called Will Haven, the Abominable Iron Sloth now return with The Id Will Overcome, the anticipated follow up to their self-titled debut. Fans of Will Haven will immediately feel right at home with lead vocalist Justin Godffrey, who has a very similar vocal style to that of Haven's Grady Avenell, However, since Iron Sloth is a doom-metal band, the instrumentation itself is quite different, as there is now less emphasis put on the usual verse/chorus structure and much more emphasis on creating a certain mood.

The Id Will Overcome is sure to please fans of trenchant doom-metal, especially if they like it slow, sludgy and stupid. The guitars are ridiculously down-tuned, almost to a pointless degree; what notes you can make out are usually drowned out by massive amounts of feedback and unintelligible vocals. Lead singer Justin Godfrey's voice is the absolute picture of a tormented mind. Too bad it's so difficult to understand what he's so upset about.

The album does “rock” pretty hard though for those that do the enjoy the occasional head-bang. “Two Black Helicopters” does move at a solid pace, and perfectly expresses whatever angst-y, paranoid expressions that it apparently aims for. The same could be said for many of the other tracks on Id because for the most part, they are virtually interchangeable aside from some changes in tempo. Breaking up the monotony is the very, very odd instrumental “Heterodox Nonconformists,” which creates an unsettling, eerie atmosphere with a sequence of spooky thuds and distorted sound effects.

As gloomy as the vibe of the music may be, you can tell by some of the song titles (“The timely death of Billy Mays” comes to mind) that these guys are having fun. Furthermore, The Id Will Overcome is actually quite breezy for having 12 tracks. It's just going to a appeal to a very small niche of metal fans, namely those who want to piss off their parents or their neighbors or anyone over the age of thirty. If that isn't the goal, Id is eminently skippable; there really isn't much here that hasn't been done more interestingly or competently elsewhere.

Review: Wu Massacre

Don't call it a comeback: the Wu never really went away. Regardless of demand, members of the legendary rap outfit have been consitently releasing music since their classic debut in 1993. Ever since last year, when Raekwon released the much celebrated follow up to his classic Only Built for Cuban Linx (the cleverly titled Only Built for Cuban Linx II) it signaled a sort of rebirth for the group, and subsequent releases by individual Wu-tang members would seem to suggest that we are in the midst of some sort of a "Wu renaissance". Makes sense then that the three 'lead' members of the group, Raekwon, Ghostface, and Method Man are striking while the iron is hot by repackaging themselves as a super-group called Wu Massacre.

With Meth, Ghostface, and Raekwon doing an album together, expectations are understandably high. Wu massacre unfotunatley falls a bit short, mainly due to some of the production. The album seems rushed, and even with it's short length, plauged with filler. The other issue is that it seems obvious that the wu knows the formula for success and sticks to it so arduosly here.

One of the many instances of them going back to well is the album opener "Criminology pt. 2.5" in which the sample a different break from the same Black Ivory song as the original. It's a strong opener but nothing amazing. "Our Dreams" which features Alicia Keys along with its echoing guitar wahs and wind chimes just sounds hollow and sentimental. It slyly recalls Ghost's classic "All that I got is You" and seems to exist just so they can check "Jackson 5" off their list of tropes to trot out once more.

Wu massacre even includes a couple skits that it could have done without. "Ya mom's' in which Method Man and Raekwon play the dozens, follows Meth vs. Chef pat 2 (yet another sequel). Tracy Morgan, (or is it Chico Divine?) implores to a woman to start turning tricks for money on "How to Pay Rent." It might be worth a few listens if the skit were actually funny.

While it is nice to hear new material from these three, and make no mistake,the punch lines are still there, Wu Massacre just seems to exist to keep interest up in the group while sleepily rehashing what has made them popular over 15 years. The lack of change will no doubt be pleasing to some, however it's also clear that these guys are just going through the motions. At this point in their career, Wu Tang has proven that they still have some suprising tricks up their sleeve. You just won't find them here.

Interview: Alan Parsons

Alan Parsons had a successful solo career with his band The Alan Parsons Project in the 70's and 80's, but is also very well known for being the man behind the music on classic albums like The Beatles Abbey Road and Pink Floyd's Darkside of the Moon, which he contributed to as a brand-new engineer. Parsons took a few minutes to tell us about how he got his start in the music industry as well as his latest release Eye to Eye - Live in Madrid.

You started producing at 19. How did that come about?
It really semts from my passion for music and passion for technology. I actually began engineering at 19, and I didn't actually produce until I was into my twenties.

So you did you have an internship or something like that?
Well, it wasn't classified as an internship, that's the way Abbey Road engineers trained. They just went straight into the deep-end, on the job; they operated tape machines and learned from the [other] engineers. We were "tape-ops", or second-engineers, and we just watched and listened and learned. That was formal education in those days.


Were you aware of the kind of artists that you would be working with? 
Well I knew the Beatles had a history at Abbey Road, but when I got the job there I didn't know I would be working with them within six months of starting work [laughs]. That was quite a day.


Can you walk me through what that day was like?
Well, I was sent down to the beatles own studio, at Apple, where they had just built their own new place, and they supplied it with equipment that didn't work. Abbey road engineers were brought in to loan them equipment that did work.  They were in the middle of filming the Let It Be movie. They hadn't actually taken on a tape-op for their own studio, so they asked Abbey Road to send one and that was me. So I ended up tape-operating on the Let It Be sessions, and that included the roof-top sessions at the end of the week.


Even being so young, you were obviously able to bring a lot to the table when working with established artists like the Beatles and later on, Pink Floyd. What sorts of things did you learn about music from the people that you produced?
It was a constant learning process, really. Every day you leanred something new; something about engineering, or something about sound, or somethng about musicians, something about guitar playing or whatever. It's constant learning.


So for example from working with David Gilmour [of Pink Floyd]..
Yeah I picked up some guitar technique from him. I had been a musician when I started working at Abbey Road, but I kind of let that lapse as I became more enveloped in the engineering arts.


Do you consider yourself a pioneer of Progressive Rock?
I wouldn't say that. That would be for you to say.


What do you think about music today. Are there any current artists that you like?
I'm liking Coldplay, Radiohead, Sheryl Crow.


What do you think about the record business as it is today, with the advent of the internet and the ipod and that sort of thing?
Well, it's made life for songwriters and artists quite difficult. Perhaps it's good for up and comng artists, because they have a new means of promotion. But for someone who was used to selling large quantities of their catalogue on a constant basis, that's certainly changing.


Tell me about your new album. What can we expect from Eye 2 Eye – Live in Madrid?
It's a concert recorded in Madrid. It's coming out both as a CD and as a DVD. Thanks to technology of today we were really able to capture the sound of the old Alan Parson's Project.


If you werent doing music what do you think you would be doing?
Probably another branch of entertainment; maybe tv or radio. I think entertainment is in my blood, it's in my heritage as well. My mother was an actress, my great grandfather was a famous actor. His name was Herbert Dearborne Tree. He was a contemporary of Oscar Wilde.


Anything else that you'd like to get across to your fans?
I've got another current project called 'The Art and Science of Sound Recording' It's a documentary which I have been working on for two years. The website is www.artandscienceofsound.com. It's a documentary all abotu recording. It's about 7 hours long and that's coming out on DVD in April sometime and is already available for donload on the website.

Oscars: My Picks

I'm not so good at making predictions, and my gambling record is a clear reflection of that (go Vikes!). However, I still have some opinions about how the Oscars will/should go and after tonight those ideas are going to be moot. So for without ado (or provocation), here are my picks for the best movies of 2009:

Best Actor:
I haven't seen A Single Man yet, but Colin Firth is a huge contender for an award for that film since he portrays a gay dude, and the academy seems to like that. In Crazy Heart, Jeff Bridges was almost completely unrecognizable as traveling country musician Bad Blake, so I am going to give it to him as my personal favorite.
My Pick: Jeff Bridges

Supporting Actor:
Stanley Tucci did a fantastic job portraying a sicko child molester in The Lovely Bones, and was argubaly the best thing about an otherwise boring movie. Unfortunatley, that might ultimatley work against him since his character was so despicable that it was hard to watch him on screen. He literally made me cringe. So I am going to have to give this one to Christopher Waltz, who played the also terrifying yet charming Hans Landa in Inglorious Basterds. That's a bingo.
My Pick: Christoper Waltz

Supporting Actress
I will admit that I didn't see The Blind Side (mostly because I felt like I didn't need to), and it's inclusion in this year's Oscars is a real head-scratcher. The only movie that I caught in this category was Precious, and if Gabourey Sidibe walks away with the award it would be absolutely amazing; however premature her Oscar may be. I have a feeling we won't see much more of Gabourey after this year. Also, I'll be really happy if I never have to type her name out again.
My Pick: Gabourey Sibide

Supporting Actress:
Both featured actresses from Up in the Air will competing against each other is this category, however neither of them were overwhelming enough to really deserve it, in my eyes. I've also never been impressed with Maggie Gyllenhaal, so I am definitely rooting or Mo'Nique with this one since she surprised a lot of folks, including me. Especially after being subjected to Soul Plane.
My Pick: Mo'Nique

Animated Feature Film:
Didn't see any of these, but I'm going to say, oh, Fantastic Mr. Fox. I heard good things about that one, and the visuals that I saw in the theatrical trailer were pretty impressive. Either that or Up, since this the category that it really belongs in.
My Pick: Fantastic Mr. Fox

Art Direction:
I don't know if massive CGI can be counted as “Art Direction,” if so, Avatar should definitely win. However, I was also impressed with the set pieces in Sherlock Homes and The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus. Still, I think Avatar will take this one.
My Pick: Avatar

Cinematography:
The Hurt Locker is a major contender in this one. The shaky hand-held style was a tension-building character in itself and was one of the most noticeable things about the movie. One will have to consider how much computer animation should factor into this category for Avatar to be taken seriously.
My Pick: The Hurt Locker

Costume Design:
Parnassus all the way. That movie crazy.

Directing:
As much as I loved Inglorious Basterds and the work of Quentin Tarantino, I think the Directing award should go to Precious. I thought some of the acting in Basterds was a bit cheesy and over the top, namely Brad Pitt's Waldo "The Apache" Raine. Precious was a great movie that would have fallen apart without competent direction to the actors and actresses.
My Pick: Precious

Sound mixing/Sound Editing:
I really don't know what these are for, so even though I have seen most of the movies that've been nominated for this category I can't call this one. However, I think Avatar is going to win most if not all technical categories that it has been nominated for, so I pick Cameron's sound people for both of these trophies.
My Pick(s): Avatar

Visual Effects:
Avatar. Duh.

Writing: (Adapted
I thought the dialogue from In the Loop was fantastic and am glad to see it nominated here. In the Loop is my pick for this category, with Precious as a close second. I'll be happy if either of them win.
My Pick: In the Loop

Writing (original):
Did I mention I love Inglorious Basterds? Well I did, yet I actually want to nominate another picture for this category, since the writing in Basterds wasn't as taut as it could have been. A Serious Man had some great dialogue accentuated by the deadpan delievery with which it was given. The Hurt Locker did a great job of adding dimensions and shades of light and dark to its characters, however the writing didn't jump out at me with that film. The Messenger, however, had some fantastic writing that took a daring look at the effects of war on not only the soldiers but they ones they love as well.
My Pick: The Messenger

Best Picture:
I saw Inglorious Basterds three times while it was in the theater and I definitely enjoyed it more than any other movie this year. However, I just don't see it winning unless the academy wants to make up their boo-boo of snubbing Tarantino's Pulp Fiction back in 1994. I also thought Precious was an amazing film, but it wasn't exactly the feel-good movie of the year and I don't think many people saw it. The main contest this years seems to be between James Cameron's Avatar, arguably the biggest movie ever even if only for the box office receipts, and his ex-wife Kathryn Bigelow's portrayal of an american bomb-squad working in Iraq in The Hurt Locker. I think Hurt Locker is gonna take it. If Avatar's visually stunning yet hollow epic wins the Oscar for best picture it will only confirm how increasingly meaningless the academy's golden statuette really is. I'm not mentioning any other films because they aren't worthy of a mention and I personally believe they were added to the list just to pad out the nominee list to attract viewers. Another dirty trick from an academy which just loves to pull the old bait-and-switch.
My Pick: Hurt Locker
(My Hope: Inglorious Basterds)

Review: Gorillaz - Plastic Beach

A well known yet unspoken adage of the music business is 'With great success comes great experimentation.' Or at least that would seem to be the case in 2010 more than ever, where we've already seen a couple high-profile pop stars tinker with proven formulas. On the heels of Lil' Wayne's baffling rock album Rebirth comes Gorillaz latest (and more artistically successful) offering Plastic Beach, a concept album which is named for, and subtly mocks, a landscape of cultural garbage. It's the furthest reach this band has made thus far into new territory, which is saying a lot.

Plastic Beach works and it doesn't. For one thing, producer and lead singer Damon Albarn (credited once-again as cartoon frontman "2D", along with Jamie Hewlett's "Murdoc") still knows how to construct a melody with the greatest of ease. However, you won't find anything with quite the gravitas of “Dirty Harry” or “Feel Good, Inc.” here. Instead what you'll find are spacier than-usual jams replete with head-scratching cameos from the likes of Lou Reed and Bobby Womack. Indeed, hearing Womack's dominating contribution to a Gorillaz record on “Cloud of Unknowing” is somewhat akin to hearing Pink Floyd's "Great Gig in the Sky" for the first time. Much like the rest of Plastic Beach, it requires some time to digest before it can be fully appreciated.

The album also includes contributions from Snoop Dogg on the post-intro opener “Welcome to the World of Plastic Beach” where his laid back rhymes and typical subject matter fit in surprisingly well with the funky Gorillaz oeuvre. Mos Def is the sole vocalist on the alarmingly indulgent “Sweepstakes;” the results of which aren't quite as awe-inspiring as one would hope or as Mos himself might think they are.



Even with experimentation clearly being the main focus, there is plenty to like on Plastic Beach. "Rhinestone Eyes" features Albarn's trademark "over-the-phone" vocals a beat which suggests disco on dextromorphan. The lead single “Stylo” puts less emphasis on it's involvement with Mos Def, to it's credit, and has another oddly explosive turn from Mr. Womack. The song does nicely incorporate a wicked bassline (somewhat reminciscent of LCD Soundsystem's “Get Innocuous”), and works very well; however without the stunning visual aspect of the video (featuring a lovely ham-fisted performance from Bruce Willis) it may come across as lacking some immediacy at first listen.

To be honest, much of the album sounds like yet another Damon Albarn pet project rather than a worthy contribution to the Gorillaz' cartoonish legacy. Make no mistake, the strong smoky melodies and sizzling synths the Gorillaz have come to be known for are still in tact; however, in an unexpected twist, much of the head-nodding menace of the previous albums (Demon Days, Gorillaz) is almost completely abandoned for what seem to be sentimental ballads and lush ambience. Some very good songs make up the majority of Plastic Beach; just don't expect to shake the proverbial butt before letting them grow on you first.



Grade: B

Review: Lil Wayne - Rebirth

Last year, Lil Wayne's No Ceilings mixtape, in which he took ownership of 2009 hits such as "Run this Town" and "Throw it in the Bag" away from his contemporaries, was highly regarded by critics and fans for its complete lack of auto-tune as much as its clever punchlines and obtuse metaphors. Wayne's newest release, as well as his first studio recording since Carter III, Rebirth is sort of an extension of the experimental side that was hinted at on that album and his other recent work. It's sort of like his inverse answer to Chris Cornell's Scream; it's am answer which no one asked for though, and sadly the ending result makes the comparison between the two albums uncomfortably appropriate.

Admirably, Wayne is anything but shy about taking his brand in various unexplored directions on Rebirth, even doing his own instrumentation in some areas. However whatever novelty-factor that remains of hearing Lil Wayne singing thrash-metal or playing a guitar is quickly drowned out by its own outdated sound, running the gamut sonically from watered down and cheesy mid 1990s alternative radio jams to pre-Appetite For Destruction hair metal ballads. Production-wise, Rebirth is able to boast names such the The J.U.S.T.I.C.E. League and Travis Barker as well as other contributors, which makes it all the more disappointing that the songs seem to just run together.

Except of course for all of Rebirth's meddling excursions into new territory, which meet a similar level of mediocrity. The tragically corny “Get a Life” does a punk-polka dance in the dead middle of the album that doesn't need to be heard too many more times than once. “One-way-trip” has a light industrial influence and features a seething keyboard riff which sounds like a  rehash of something from The Fragile.

The worst part is that all the monotonous clutter makes very little room for any standout tracks. One of those being “On-Fire” in which Wayne croons over an Amy Holland sample that any fan of Scarface or Grand Theft Auto 3 will instantly recognize. However its the anxiously-overworked drums that qualify this as a long standing club favorite. “Drop the World” features a dauntless Eminem, whose double time flow is a welcome relief from whatever Wayne is doing for the rest of the song-even if his verse is only about “walls closing in” and various other long clichéd subject matter. If anything, its a reminder of how out-of-place Wayne sounds with this material, and how uneven the rest of the album is.

Grade: D

Interview with Evidence of Dilated Peoples

Evidence, best known as a member of the celebrated west coast hip-hop outfit Dialated Peoples, is also the newest addition to Minneapolis hip-hop record label Rhymesayers, where he will be dropping his second solo album Cats and Dogs. We caught up with Ev at the 5th element record store in Minneapolis during a record release party for Us, his labelmate Brother Ali's latest album. Ali and Evidence are currently traveling the United States for their 'Fresh Air Tour,' where they will be joined by Toki Wright and BK-One.


How did the deal with Rhymesayers come about?
I was standing right here [at 5th Element] in 2006 with Little Brother and Dilated Peoples, doing an in-store. Slug [of Minneapolis rap group Atmosphere] was standing here also. The name Atmosphere has been popping up my whole career with Dilated Peoples. Even though I wasn't familiar with their work. So I finally got the chance to meet Slug, and I was like 'let me take a photo with you.' So I took a photo and I put it on my myspace page, and that picture caused more shit, than all my other pictures put together. People started talking about how us working together would be dope to see. A lot of girls, too. I could see that something was sparking. So I just sort of kept a loose relationship [with Slug]. In 2007 when I started working on the Weatherman LP, I just got on the phone and just cold called him. Everyone on my album, I know well. I just called him and asked if he wanted to be on my album, he said yes. I asked him how much, and he said "Just make a donation in my name to this foundation". I never heard that before. So I called my label and I told them to contact him and find out what that foundation is. And, God willing, it happened. [laughs]

So, I put him over an Alchemist beat, which is something that no one had ever heard before. So I was like 'you know what, his label is working out, dude's got a following like crazy.' I called him again a few months later and told him that I was interested in looking for a home for my second record. Weathermen LP had been out and doing really good, getting put on a lot of album of the year lists...so after putting out the Layover EP, I hit slug on the text message and said 'Do you wanna do my album, check yes or no. [laughs]

So the reason I am doing this is because Slug allowed it to happen. I think they saw my work ethic and I think they thought it would be beneficial to put me in the mix, and it happened. The greatest thing out of all this is Brother Ali called me to be on this tour before having any knowledge of me being on Rhymesayers.

Really?
Yeah, just totally natural. He had all these people he wanted on the tour who weren't really working out, so he was like 'can you do this?' and I was like 'I can.' So a week or two later I called him back and was like 'Yo, I'm actually on Rhymesayers now,' and his exact quote was 'that makes this so much more dynamic!' [laughs] That was his quote. So that's really how I'm here. I had four offers from four other labels, 2 of which for more paper. But I took the right deal for the right situation because it was right. And I'm very proud to be here. Its kind of like Kanye when he joined Rocafella, you know? It's like 'Wow I'm part of something powerful and all seems to fit.'

So I noticed your albums seem to have a weather theme..
Yeah, my next one is Cats and Dogs. More rain. I'm just a gloomy person, I guess. I'm from Southern California where they say it never rains. I don't do gangster rap. I just really figure, like, the weather, where I'm from, erases misconceptions. I live in a place that's very much a facade. We have palm trees growing everywhere but we are not tropical. So, if we stopped watering those trees, they would all die. It's like an illusion where I live, like a glorified resort. And the weather is just raining on all that shit.

So it's more of like a rain theme, then.
Exactly.

So how do you spend your rainy days?
Well, I always tell people if you're from Cali, you understand how not to get sidetracked by nice weather. So I can spend a perfect 85 degree day with no clouds in a darkroom all day. When it rains, I find myself going out more than I usually would [laughs]. It doesn't happen very much so I just like to be out there.

How many albums are you doing for Rhyme sayers?
I'm going to definitely do two, and hopefully do three.

It's been a pretty good year later for hip-hop, there's been a lot of good releases coming out lately. Do you have a favorite of those, like the new Raekwon, Jay-z, Kid Cudi etc?
My favorite release of 2009 was Exile's Radio. It's an instrumental album. He only sampled radio frequencies; so if he wanted good drums he would go to the mainstream stations, and if he wanted something dirty he went to an AM station. It's only radio frequencies for every single sample. It's such an amazing album that what I decided to do was take this album and make Evidence Radio: tribute to Exile, and make the unofficial vocal version of it [which is upcoming].

So how is the Step Brothers album you are doing with Alchemist coming along?
We are about 7 or 8 songs deep right now. That's just my best friend, we hangout every day regardless of we're making music or not. I look up to him and he's learned some things from me. I think we just give each other a good balance, and I feel like that record is gonna be something special. We don't want to rush it because in the big picture it's important to get it right. We have a song called "Just Step" out there that's leaking that's major, we have a song on that Evidence radio called "It's coming down." We have a a song called "So Fresh" which is on my Layover EP. So there's a lot of stuff leaking that's out there already.

Do you think that there's a difference between the Stepbrothers stuff and collaborations that you've had with Alchemist before?
Yeah, we're doing this thing where we're not focusing on choruses. Just a lot of rhyming and if a hook happens, it'll happen. Like, if you get a DOOM record, you don't want to hear DOOM and Mary J. Blige, you know what I mean? [laughs]

Classic Interview: Raekwon of Wu-tang Clan

The Raekwon event at Varsity theater on Friday night (October 2006) was so laid back, so informal, that I joked to a buddy of mine, Carlos, that I could probably just walk backstage if I had wanted to. Then I decided to give it a shot. Earlier, I had spoken to John, a wu-tang promoter who I knew from my previous run-in with the clan, about possibly hooking up a quick interview. He told me twice that I should contact him after the show and he would see what Rae wanted to do. When I snuck backstage I had almost made it all the way there but was told I needed to brandish a red wristband to verfiy my authorization. So, what ended up happening was when I went over to wait for John by the portal to the backstage, Rae was right behind him on his way out of the building, through a side door at the left of the stage. So I quickly approached Rae and fired off as many questions as I could read from my pad in the darkness.

DRONKMUNK: Hey Raekwon, you mind if I get a quick interview with you? For my website?

Ok, go ahead.

DM: First, can you sign this for me?

Nah, nah, man. You gonna start a whole trend with that.

DM: Alright, I can respect that.

Aiight.

DM: Ok, I have some food questions since you’re the chef.

Ok. DM: During the recording of the "Biters" skit on Cuban Linx, were you guys eating candy?

Nah, man.

DM: Really? Cause it sounds like someone was eating some Mike n' Ikes or something.

Uh-uh.

DM:Ok, What is your favorite food?

Fish.

DM: Ok, you mean "fish" as in cocaine, or like actual fish?

Fish.

DM: What rappers are you really feeling that are doin’ it right now?

Me. Me, myself, and I. That’s it.

DM: So, who are you not really feeling these days?

I ain't likin' nobody.

DM: So, you don’t like any of the new rappers coming out today?

Nah. Well, I’m not impressed by them. They don’t impress me. Say that.

DM: What is your favorite drink?

Hennessy. I’m out. Bye.

Wu-Tang Clan ain't nothing to fuck with (seriously)

I had a mind-bending experience back in 2006 which involved the entire Wu-tang clan, a journalist from the Star Tribune, and a drunk ex-associate of mine who almost got the both of us killed by the world's most dangerous rap crew. It was either one of the worst or best experiences I have ever had. The date was August 11th. I had been looking forward to the Wu-tang show at First Avenue that evening for the previous couple of months, so when I got off from work that day I immediately made way just down the street to wait in line for the show, which wasn't for hours.

As I headed there on my bike, I passed right by none other than Cappadonna himself. He was on his way back from a nearby Jimmy John's with some food. I couldn't believe my eyes. I turned my bike around and rode past him, stopping at his feet. "Yo Cap, is that you?" I said. He let out a big smile and said "Yeah, what's up." I told him I was going to the show later. He asked me about the venue, whether it was inside or outside. I asked him if I could go with him to hang

out with the Clan to get some autographs. There was a write up about Wu-tang in the Star Tribune that day that I wanted to get signed.

I pulled the paper out of my back pocket and showed it to him. Cap pulled out a pen and was about to sign when I sputtered, "Hey, look what they wrote about you. It's kind of disparaging: "Cappadonna: Once a reserve member of the Clan, now lost in oblivion," I read to him. He said "Aw I can't sign that, man. Who wrote that shit?" At the bottom of the article was the name and phone number of the author of the article Tom Horgen. At my urging, Cappadonna pulled out his cell phone and dialed the number. A few moments later, he was barking into the mouthpiece: (I paraphrase here) "Yo, dude, you don't even know me son. You don't know anything. ...I am your father...we are the original man. How could you ever know about me...you live in Minnesota writing for a newspaper. You live in the black and white newspaper world.." And on like that for about 3 awesome minutes. Then after hanging up he turned to me and said "I like the way I handled that." He asked if he could keep my paper.

Cappadonna

I said yes.

Suddenly he looked up and around and said, "Yo, this is 7th and 2nd ave..I need to figure out where I'm going...oh, there's my hotel." He was staying at the Crown Plaza. I followed his gaze and saw what must have been at least half of the Wu tang Clan taking their bags out of a truck and walking into the hotel. My idol at that time, The Rza, stood out the most, towering over the other members. I asked Cap if he thought it would be ok for me to roll over there and say hi. He said I could go try, but not to mention that he said it was ok. When I got across the street the Rza was gone so I walked inside the front doors to try to find him. Various Wu bag handlers straggled around the lobby. Ghostface was checking in at the counter. I calmly walked up to the counter and told him that I have been a fan of his for a really long time and that I was looking forward to the show later. He gave me some dap, and I walked on looking around.

Ghostface

I ran into Cappadonna again at the elevator and told him I would see him later. I was about to leave, but then realized I could probably get another paper at the hotel so i asked the front desk and they told me to go to the convience store, which was back through the big glass double doors. The store was closed, but Ghostface was inside getting some soda and snacks. When he finally came out I told him about the article and that I wanted to show it to him, but he just seemed interested in getting back up to his room. However he did hold the door open for me when I asked the lady if she would sell me a paper. As he was leaving, I shouted, "Hey Ghost, thanks for coming to our city!" He turned and said "Oh, no doubt, baby." The woman who ran the store did not have change for a 20 so I could not get a paper. I headed back to the venue. There was hardly anyone in line so I decided I needed a drink to calm myself down after all that. I went to the Loon bar and met D there, the aforementioned ex-associate, who was also coming to the show. My father would also be joining us later. D and I had a couple drinks before deciding to go wait in line, which was considerably longer at this point.

Cappadonna and RZA rock the stage at The First Avenue in Minneapolis

The Wu-tang put on the best show I have ever seen, to this day. They did every single hit song from their catalog as well as some other favorites. All of them showed up and graced the stage one by one. I was in the front and shook hands with almost all of them. Cappadonna recognized me and acknowledged me many times. Afterword, we waited outside along with some other fans. I saw Inspectah Deck outside. He was carrying a bottle in one hand and a cup in the other. He saw me and said whats up. It was surreal when asked me if I had seen the RZA anywhere. I said no and asked if he could sign my paper. He told me to hold on while he looked around. He walked over and said a few words to D and when Deck came back i asked him again to sign the paper and told him it would really mean a lot. He said "ok, ok" and signed it "INS the Rebel" real quick.

Inspectah Deck, earlier that night.*

D and I decided to walk down to the hotel and see if we could get some more signatures. When we got there Wu-tang were getting off of their buses. Some of them were headed inside and some hung out in the front of the hotel. After my run-in with Deck, which made me feel like a groupie, I wasn't feeling very bold. It was very difficult for me to even fathom my surroundings. But I knew I had to get some signatures, so I had D approach them for the autographs. First U-God came by and signed it, then Masta Killa, then Gza, and finally Cappadonna, who had apparently not connected the dots between that and what had happened earlier. Either that or he just said "fuck it" and let his outrage at Tom Horgen subside. He and everyone else seemed to be glowing still from the strength of the performance earlier that night. Gza and Inspectah Deck were hanging outside of the hotel, sipping on some mixed drinks and talking to some girls and some members of their entourage, who were also supervising the entire situation. Then there was D and I, in the middle of all of it. Me still on my bike. Inspectah deck cracked some jokes and seemed eager to talk, but I didn't know what to say. We just sat there just watching the scene and waiting to see who else we could meet.

Finally, one of the entourage members, a white guy that we didn't recognize, however obviously very close friend to the Wu-tang, headed into the hotel. D got his attention and waved him over. I thought for sure he was going to try to slick talk our way up stairs, where there was no doubt plent of booze, blunts and beautiful women (at least in my mind) to be pilfered. That would have been the icing on the cake. Instead, D leaned over and mumbled "hey, uh.." then all of sudden lunged toward the man and wrestled him down to the ground and started hitting him. I looked over at Inspectah Deck and Gza and they were watching in awe and disbelief. Deck's sunglasses had slid down to the end of his nose, and he was watching from the top of the lenses; a toothpick hung from his agape mouth. D ripped the chain off the guy's neck and began to run. But The White Dude grabbed his arm while Gza, Deck and another guy from the entourage ran over and started beating the holy shit out of D.

GZA the Genius, earlier that evening.

Gza looked especially pissed, and was getting in some good punches and kicks to D's head. I watched in total horror and at the same time, amusement. They got D's eye pretty good and his mouth. One of them even took my bike and was about to land it on D when i tried to stop him, mostly in the interest of preserving my most desirable m-e-t-h-o-d of transportation. They then turned to me and asked me if I was with him. "Yeah that is my boy," I said, not really sure at that moment if it was true. Then I quickly sputtered, "But I don't know what the fuck he is doing or why he did that." They let me know then that I was lucky that they didn't beat my ass too. The White Dude, who I would later learn was John, the tour manager, got right in my face and demanded that I compensate him with something valuable of mine, since my "boy" had ruined his expensive cuban link. I told him that I didn't have anything to give him, hoping he wouldn't be alerted to the fact that I had half of the Clan's signatures on paper in my pocket.

They eventually told me to get the fuck out of their presence. I rolled up to D asked him what the hell was going through his head. He said "I really wanted that chain." He seemed unapologetic and triumphant. I had noticed while he was on the ground getting punched in the face and slammed up against walls, that he had this sick grin on his face. I was mad at D for embarrasing me in front of the Wu and making them eventually turning their anger on me. But at the same time, because of him, I had front-row seats to one of the most mind-twisting things I have ever ever seen. Ever.

I wrote Gza an apology letter this morning on myspace and told him that I hoped things would be cool with us when we met again, and that I hoped that they would come back to minneapolis one day. As you can see, I got the newspaper framed, which has autographs from 5 of the 9 members (no RZA, Ghost, Raekwon, or Meth, no doubt the most illustrious members) as well as the ticket stub and an advertisement. It was an amazing night, but in a bittersweet way; perhaps it would have been more legendary had D not lost his fucking mind.

Wu-Tang Forever.

*Rebel INS photo courtesy of Bonita Applebum

UPDATE: Star Tribune columist Tom Horgen (who received the nasty voicemail from Cappadonna) has responded to this article:

Hey... Wow, that shit is crazy. Nice narrative. So your homie tried to snatch dude's chain in front of the Wu?! And I thought all that knowledge shit Cappa was trying to drop on me (about the history of black and white men) was kind of silly, SINCE I'm not white. So I kind of wish I would'a been at my desk to answer the phone.

Interview: Carl Verheyen of Supertramp

Unless you have been a fan of the British prog-rock outfit Supertramp since 1985 onward, you have probably never heard the name Carl Verheyen, who is that band's current lead guitarist; however, you are probably more familiar with some of his work than you realize. Carl is a versatile and constantly traveling musician, and has been an uncredited contributor to many popular commercial jingles and television theme songs. Carl spoke with us to talk about his latest solo album Trading 8s and to share some of the insight he's acquired from over two decades of making music.

How long have you been a solo artist?
Well, I have done my own band pretty much since 1988. but we didn't get on the road until 1997. Then I started touring. I got going in Europe pretty well in those days, and just kept that going. I actually just got back from a tour that took me from Italy to Spain, to England. It was fun.
I bet its hard to come home after a tour like that.
Well yeah, but it's hard to leave the family too. So you kind of end up with a little bit of heartache. But its a lot of fun. My band is actually leaving Wednesday for a tour from Seattle, Washington all the way down to San Diego. So there's another tour coming up.
A lot of people I know have heard of Supertramp, but can't name a lot of their songs. It's funny when I start naming the songs, you see this look of recognition on people's faces and they start to go 'Yeah!' Like 'Take the Long way home..'
...'Goodbye Stranger', 'The Logical Song'...
Did you have a hand in writing a lot of that?
I didn't, because that was all written before I showed up. I joined Supertramp in 1985, and so my experience has been sort of the latter-day part of it. That's been about 24 years in the band. We just had a really cool reunion not too long ago. We played over in The Hamptons where Rick Davies lives, the leader of the band. That was really fun to go over to his 40 million dollar house; we had a great party and it was really fun to play.
Has it been hard to keep you guys together all these years?
I guess you could say it has, because we all live in very very different places. I'm in California, and one of the keyboard players is here. But the sax player is in Yorkshire, England. The bass player is in Napa Valley..it just goes on and on. Everybody is in different places.
Do you have any interesting tour experiences or stories?
Oh yeah, with Supertramp and with my own band. I've played with Supertramp in places like a Roman Colosseum, and I've watched the moon come up right in between these two Roman arches. I have played with my own band in many different places. I mean, you name it, we've played there.
What is the significance of your album's title Trading 8s?
'Trading 8s" is sort of a jazz term, and its when you trade 8 bar phrases with another player. And in the jazz era, they would have these blowing sessions where, you know, the sax player, the trumpet player, the piano player would all play solos, and then at the end of the tune, they would trade 8 bar phrases with the drummer over the form of the tune. So I decided how fun that would be..I mean, you've heard rock bands do it too. Like what The Beatles do at the end of Abbey Road. The Allman Brothers will trade 8s for a while on their songs also. That's been going on forever in Rock n' roll. What I tried to do was enlist some of my peers and some of my heroes and say 'Can you play on my record?' It was a really wonderful thing; just the spirit in which everybody came together and was enthusiastic about the project.
I've seen that you have done some instructional work.
I have done two instructional DVDs I've done two books and 10 Cd's and a live DVD. I have been around for quite a while and a studio musician for almost 30 years. You may not realize it but you hear me everyday. I am on every episode of "Cheers", I played on the movie "Up", and I played on "Star Trek" this year. "Land of the Lost", "Scrubs", dozens of jingles, other peoples records. When I am not on the road with my band, I am definitely working here in LA.
So you play the "Scrubs" theme song?
Yeah, I play the main title and the little incidental music in between cues. You won't see my name on the credits though; all you get is the damn composers name. They never list the musicians on those shows. You know that movie "Ratatouille"?
Yeah sure.
I was one of the principal soloists on that movie. Which means me and a harmonica player and an accordion player and a violinist were the principal soloists and I didn't even get a credit for that. [laughs]
Did you get to go to the premiere?
Yeah, at least I got to go the premiere and take my family.
So you do a lot of commercials as well, right?
Yeah, there is a little bit of that, but its mostly touring. When you're like me you want to go out on the road with your band. I've always felt that I have had too much music inside of me just to be a side man for the rest of my life and play jingles and stuff. I've got my own music I want get out and play. So for that reason I'm leaving town for 3 or 4 months a year. But that's OK. i look at it like there's nothing more exhilarating than playing to a live audience and the people in the front row are singing along to a song I wrote in my kitchen, you know? That's a really beautiful feeling that you cant get when you play on people's jingles and stuff.
You are known for many different styles of guitar playing. What can we expect to hear on Trading 8s, as far as styles of music?
Well there's definitely some blues on there, and then I go into a real pretty ballad. I've got almost like a James Taylor style tune which is a duet with a female vocalist. There is some acoustic stuff on there, and a ska version of George Harrison's "Taxman" and that goes into a jazz fusion jam. I have a song called "Highway 27." I wrote it because this is the road that goes from my house down to the beach. I wanted to make a tune that I could listen to in my car when I'm driving. That was the impetus for writing it.
What kind of music do you listen to nowadays?
I pretty much hear everything. I like a lot of guitar music but I'm also listening to Sonny Rollins, and Miles Davis, and jazz singers like Betty Carter. Today I was listening to some Little Richard and some Weather Report. But then again, we'll put on some bossanova or samba music and stuff like that, some Brazilian stuff, occasionally during cocktail hour. I like to hear classical music on a Sunday morning...so I really listen to a lot of stuff.
I'm sure that informs a lot of the music that you make.
I think so. I mean, if you're a shred guy or a heavy metal guy, and all you listen to is heavy metal guys, you're not really going to expand the genre because everything you've heard has been done. But if you're a guy like Jaco Pastorius, who was thinking like a guitar player on the bass, almost like classical flamenco guitar playing, he was able to take the electric bass into a whole new area.
Do you do a lot of social networking? Like Twitter or Facebook?
I do the Facebook thing occasionally because I consider that to be like a marketing tool. Getting a whole lot of fans and friends on Facebook. Every once in a while I'll mention I have a tour coming up or something like that. I have a Myspace page where you can hear my tracks. I have been holding off on twitter, but I will probably have to [use it] one of these days.
What are your thoughts on the record industry?
I have been with various record companies for 22 years, but I decided this time to make my own record, because I realized that the advances that the European labels would give me, they would pretty much make back on the first European tour supporting that record. I realized what I should do is just advance the money to myself and I will make it all back and more that way on the first tour. Which I did. So my latest record has recouped itself and its only been out a few months. In my position, not being a Britney Spears or a Rhianna, it makes the perfect sense to keep it a cottage industry and do it yourself.
Is there anything else you would like fans to know?
If you're a budding musician, be true to what you believe in, but also try to open your mind and learn as many styles as you can. That way you'll ensure yourself a long career in the music business.

I played the academy awards this year. Three days before the actual taping of the show, they came up to me and said 'Can you play an acoustic guitar version of the song "Moon River?"' Sitting on the front of the stage. They told me 'You should have it memorized [rather than playing it from the sheet music] because you'll be sitting on the front of the stage with the host Hugh Jackman. Meryl Streep and Brad Pitt and Angelina, and Penelope Cruz and all these movie stars will be about 3 feet away from your toes, and it would be better not to have a piece of music in front of you. Oh, and remember 65 million people will be watching.' So I went home and pulled out the music and memorized it and made myself a little solo guitar arrangement and I did it. If I hadn't spent the time learning jazz and different styles of music, I never would have gotten that gig. It turned out to be really, really big gig for me, financially.
Was it nerve-racking playing in front of all those people?
Well, I had to forget about the TV audience. 65 million is incomprehensible. The biggest crowd I have ever played for was about 180 thousand, with Supertramp. The Kodak theatre where they do they Academy Awards only seats about 3 thousand people. But when you add in the 65 million, that changes. So I just put them out of my mind, and looked at the beautiful movie stars.

The Balls on this Guy

I heard this sick freestyle from a Lil' Wayne mixtape today, and it made me remember how he released a track from his upcoming rock album, which I never got to hear. I remember the general internet backlash that took place, but then again, that always takes place. After searching a bit, I found the song on youtube. After a couple of "hmm?"'s and a few "wtf?"'s I started thinking about the motivations behind the song, and I came to the realization that Lil' Wayne knows exactly what he's doing.

The song kind of reminds me of some late-ninties post grunge-pre-nu-metal era shit until the vocals come in. The sound that it makes after that isn't at all unfamiliar; but because it sounds to me like some shitty band that I would never listen to enough to know the name of, I can't really place it. The tinny autotune vocals recall a Prince influence too, I suppose. I'm actually one of the 5 living people that don't really like that prince that much, not to mention Minnesota's only one.

Aside from being an endangered species, I know my music. And when Lil Wayne's rock opus drops, it's going to sell faster than free pussy. Prom Queen really takes three listens to appreciate: It takes the first one to convince you that he's lost his mind, the second to get the feeling that he's utterly selling out; and the third to realize that he isn't alienating his fan base, he's actually playing to them.

Let's face it: if you are reading this, chances are you have heard The Carter III. Chances are even better that you didn't pay to hear it. Those that did? Suburban tweens, and all the boys that thought it might help them "hit that shit." I can also tell you for a fact that everyone 15 and under that plays Xbox live has a copy of it laying around somewhere. This is his demographic now-and has been ever since Carter III went halfway diamond and he became a superstar; It certainly isn't you and me.

That being said, I am really not a Wayne fan. I have been listening to him since Get It How U Live!, and watching him blow up in 2008 was kind of wild to me. However, he hasn't done anything that has really impressed me musically since some parts of Carter II a few of the mixtape freestyles around that time. But his business sense is very keen, and I respect that.

Kanye definitely had the idea first, releasing 808's and Heartbreak despite much of that internet backlash he received due to the excessive use of autotune in "Love Lockdown" when that got leaked. It went on to go platinum, although by judging some of his behavior I can't be sure if this was Mr. West's most foremost intention or if he just needed to vent a little.

Like him or not, Wayne is just that guy, the one bringing in that lethal combination of charisma and unpredictability to the table right now. Not the hip-hop or rap table though; I'm talking about the pop music table, where the grown-up money sits.

The Rap attitude, and for the most part, Rap music itself, does not sell anymore. Some hip-hop artists, like Andre 3000 have been able to see this and branch out. And if there is something that he, Kanye and Wayne have in common, it's that they have the ability to see the game for what it is and adapt to the way it's changing now.

As well as enormous balls.

Interview: Tyler Mane

Tyler Mane, perhaps best known as former WCW wrestler Big Sky, is the current star of Rob Zombie's rebooted Halloween series in which he plays the terrifying Michael Myers. Having acted in numerous other films such as Troy and X-men, Mane is now starting his own production company Mane Entertainment, which will specialize in low-budget, independent films. He took a some time to speak with us about working on the Halloween sequel, discovering what makes a killer tick, and Kanye West.

You are currently starring in the new Halloween movie, and you were in the first one as well, right?
Yes, Rob's first one in 2007. I played Michael Myers and reprise the role in 2009.

Are you going to be in the next one?
We are in talks. We shall see.

So you don't die in this new one, then?
Well, it's Michael Myers. It's the tenth movie I think now, and he hasn't died yet. Who knows, maybe they will hook the life support up to him and bring him back to life. You never know.

How was filming Halloween 2 different from filming the first Halloween?
You know, the first one kind of followed the format of the original Halloween movies. It told that story along with giving the back-story of Michael Myers and how he became a product of his environment. The second one picked up where that one left off, but with the second one, you see inside the mind of Michael Myers and how he perceives himself. And it's kind of creepy that he sees himself as that 10 year old little boy just before he made that decision to go out and start killing people. So he perceives himself as total innocence. And he's talking to the only person that's ever loved him, his mother. And he feels that she’s driving his thoughts. Which, of course, is totally in his mind. And then parallel to that you have Lori Strode, with her downhill spiral into total madness from what has happened to her in her life. The second one is more of Rob's interpretation of the Halloween movies and what happens with it, and I think he's just done a brilliant job with it.

Have you noticed any differences or growth in Zombie's style of directing? He really is a relatively new director. He had House of 1000 Corpses in 2003...
Right. And then he did The Devil's Rejects where I first met him, playing the Rufus character. And then the two Halloweens.

It's just been fantastic to watch Rob and see how he's evolved as a director. The thing is, he comes from an entertainment background and he realizes what an actor needs to get the best performance out of them. He, before directing the movies, directed all his own music videos. So, he's got visualization for what he wants to see. And, working with [him] was just fantastic.

Do you have any lines in this film?
I'm gonna be doing some grunting and groaning. It's kinda funny because my wife appears in this, and she plays one of the cops-she's the one with the princess Leia buns-and she likes picking on me and getting under my skin. And she goes "How many movies have you done? 2? I have more lines in a few seconds than you had in two movies!" [Laughs]

Well, she does have a point. Although, I think fans of the first Halloween movie that Rob Zombie did would agree that you are still a very effective and terrifying villain even without speaking any lines.
Yeah, that's why I took the project. Because it was a great opportunity to give this character some depth with body movement and body language. That is the one thing that I wanted to do with it. When Rob first talked to me about it he said 'I don't want just a one-dimensional killer, here. I want to give some depth to this character so that people perceive him more as a human.’ And that's what we did I think, and it came across great. People were even sympathetic to Michael Myers.

Is there any research or preparation that goes into playing Michael Myers?
I definitely did my research. The first thing I did was go back and watch the other Halloween movies that Myers appears in and watched their performances. Not to mimic them, but to see what they brought to the character. I noticed that they were mainly one-dimensional characters, and I wanted to bring more to that. So then I went from there and started researching serial killers and seeing how they interacted in society, and people [actually] perceived them as being this innocent person that could and did interact with society. No one ever thought that that person was who they turned out to be. So I wanted to bring that to the character just with my body language and how I moved and all of that. It’s kinda funny because the "Iceman" Richard Kuklinksi, who was a hit man for the mob, had the same traits as Michael Myers. He started with tormenting and torturing and killing animals and moved his way up from there. I think that’s how those killers become numb to the fact that they’re able to kill people. There’s definitely a chemical thing in their brains too that is different than the normal person, but it was fantastic to be able to research that and just see how that does happen.

Are you a big fan of Rob Zombie’s music?
Yeah. He is a fantastic artist. It was funny while working on the first Halloween, the sound guys had one of his music videos playing, where he had the dreadlocks and he’s whipping them around and going crazy, and then I’d look over and see Rob sitting behind the monitors in his director’s chair chewing his gum, analyzing the shot. And I’d look at the video and back to Rob…it was surreal. You wouldn’t think they were the same person.

Did you learn a lot about Rob Zombie from working with him?
He’s just a fantastic guy to work with. He’s not what a lot of people think. And I understand and I get it, because when I was wrestling, people would go ‘You’re a wrestler? You’re married and have kids? How could that be?’ It’s kinda like two different worlds, you know?

Did you wrestle for the WWE?
I wrestled for the WCW and the UWF. I did a lot of my wrestling overseas, internationally. In Japan, Germany, Austria, England, Mexico, places like that.

What name did you wrestle under?
I wrestled as Big Sky and Nitron. I was in there on two different occasions, and I was Kevin Nash’s tag partner for a while.

Do you ever wish you could go back to doing wrestling?
Oh hell no.

It doesn’t look very glamorous, the way that movie The Wrestler depicted it. Plus all the stuff you hear about steroids and that sort of thing.
Yeah, it’s a wild and crazy lifestyle. I used it as a stepping stone to get to where I am today, and I’m thankful I had all the opportunities and everything, but I’m glad that I’m not stuck in that lifestyle.

It’s good that you aren’t stuck in that lifestyle, but when you think of the Vince McMahon’s in the wrestling business, they probably not too different from the Hollywood sharks that are out there.
Yeah, that’s true. That is true. You just gotta try and avoid the shark infested waters.[laughs]

You ever use music to get you pumped up before you wrestle or before you start acting?
Oh yeah, all the time. I’ll be throwing in some good 70’s rock and have that on my headphones before I go to work and do my thing. I play the Pandora classic rock station all the time when I’m working out at the gym.

Are there any bands in particular that you listen to?
I’m a big fan of Rush, Led Zeppelin, the oldies.

What was the last concert that you attended?
Probably Rob’s, the show he had back at the Staple Center. He’ll do movies, and go on tour for a while, and just go back on forth. He’s got a tour he’s preparing for right now.

You have a new production company called Mane Entertainment. Tell me a little about the new film your company is releasing, Penance Lane.
We’re in the pre-production stages right now. We’re hopefully going to start filming at the beginning of the year. It’s going to be an indie low-budget horror thriller. It’s a smart horror film and there’s a lot of twists and turns, and people aren’t who you would perceive them to be. The reason why I picked this was to please the horror fans, and also to be able to do a picture and keep the budget down. I believe as indie film-makers, we owe it to the investors to get the best return for the dollar. I’ve been in a lot of big productions where I’ve seen them just take the money out to the middle of the street, pile it up and light a match to it, so to speak. I don’t think you need to do that to make a top-quality picture. I’m using all my years of experience in the business and compiling my resources and talented friends, and we’re well on the way.

Are you directing Penance Lane?
I’m producing and going to be acting in it. I have a director attached but we’re not going to be naming him yet because we don’t have the contract signed. I would like to get into directing eventually, but I don’t think the time is just right just yet.

That does seem like the natural progression.
Yeah, and the reason why I wanted to set up Mane Entertainment is to do the indie films and keep control of the picture. So many times you get into a studio with a picture and everybody has to put their two cents in and they come up with totally absurd ideas that end up ruining the film. It becomes more about people trying to put their two-cents in so that they can keep their job than it is to put out the best picture possible. I think we owe it to the fans to do that and get back to grassroots and go smaller to get bigger. Bigger results.

Do you have anything in the pipeline for after Penance Lane?
Yeah, we have about 4 or 5 different projects that we’re looking at, in various genres. There is a book that I just finished reading that a gentleman had sent me, and I’m going to be in the process of optioning that right away, for one of our projects. There’s one that I’m working on with my wife at the present time [as well], so we have several projects in the pipeline.

Are there any forthcoming acting gigs that are separate from Mane Entertainment that you’re going to be doing?
Yeah, I just finished filming a comedy-western in Canada called Gunless, that’s coming out in March of 2010 I believe. I play a blacksmith that gets into a shootout. It’s kind of comical because it’s set in a Canadian town where we don’t have any pistols to do any dueling with. This gunslinger comes into town and challenges me to a duel. And it’s kind of comical that I don’t have any pistols. But then I do end up finding a pistol and I end up getting shot in the ass. I come out and be a hero in the end though, so it’s all good.

I know everyone is already sick of talking about the Kanye West thing at the VMA’s, and actually a lot of wrestlers have been giving their opinion on it, saying they would beat Kanye’s ass if he ever did that to them. Do you have any input on that at all?
It’s kind of unfortunate for Kanye. He’s been going through a lot lately, and it’s sad that it had to happen. I think he will look back and realize that he screwed up, big time. It’s kinda sad. I hope people don’t destroy him over it. I think he needs to get his shit together and get back on track. But, on the other hand, if he did do that to me, I would beat his ass too!

Anything you want to tell your fans?
Thanks for the support. The reason why I do what I do is for the fans. It’s great to get their input and be able to chat with them. I go on my MySpace and Facebook and talk with my fans all the time. It really is me on there. I take the time to do that, talk to the fans, and I appreciate everything they do for me.

Review: Q-Tip - Kamaal The Abstract

Way back in 2002, former leader of hip-hop/jazz fusion group A Tribe Called Quest, Q-tip, created his second solo album, Kamaal the Abstract. Abstract, with its sprawling and chunky stretches of instrumental jams, was conceived 6 full years before the interbreeding between hip-hop and other genres was as prevalent and well-received as it is today. In fact, this album was such a large departure from what was going on with rap music at the time, much less from what people expected to hear from Q-tip, that it was shelved by his label for fear of being a commercial disaster. LA Reid, who would go on the following year to oversee the release of Outkast's Speakboxxx/The Love Below (their most experimental and unorthodox work to date, which is saying a lot), didn't believe the album could prevail while The Game and 50 Cent were topping the charts with their information-age spin on Gangsta Rap.

In 2009 Abstract has finally seen the light of day that it deserves. While Q-tip's prior release just last year, The Renaissance, further explored the jazzy meoldies that have always been at the root of his music since his days with Tribe, it was still standard Q-tip through and through, with all the rubber-necking sample loops and soulful basslines that entails. Those looking for a looser version of that kind of instrumentation will be pleased with Abstract, but might be puzzled when Q disappears for noticeable stretches of time. However, the spontaneity that having such an unhinged structure brings doesn't so much hurt the album, but instead lends it a live feel which reminds you when you least expect it that anything can happen.

Things ramp up right away during the opener "Feelin'." It starts off innocuously with Qtip on the mic as usual, but its not long before the organ solo and distorted guitar get their way under your skin. Q-tip sings us out and ends the song on his own, as if to remind you that, yes, this is still his album. "Do U Dig You" features a lengthy and aimless jam-session between Gary Thomas on flute and Kirk Rosenwinkel on guitar, and sounds like Prince's lost contribution to Bitches Brew. "Blue Girl" is typical Neo-soul a la Rafael Saadiq or D'Angelo (by now you shouldn't be expect a lot of actual rhyming on this album, although there is some), until Q-tip tacks a short verse on the end out of nowhere.

Q-tip takes further chances on "Barely in Love" which suggests Sly Stone as a Schoolhouse Rock cartoon and stops just short of becoming an all-out gospel jam with its light organ chord progressions and hand-clapping, foot stomping refrain. "Heels" sounds like an attempt 311's brand of palm-muted rap-rock, draped in a goatee stroking jam-bandish rhythm. The ending of the song sounds like everyone from P-Funk is on stage somewhere singing its hook. Synthesizers somehow make a very auspicious and unapologetic appearance right in the middle of it all.

Even if it loses a bit of momentum with the last few tracks, Q-tip's Kamaal the Abstract (named after Q-Tip's self appointed nom de Islam) is pretty solid for an album that never misses a chance to take one. It stands tall next to any of the highly regarded work that his experiment prone contemporaries Outkast and D'Angelo were doing at the time, and it's avant-garde detours are what keep it fresh after 6 years. Just as the rest of the urban music world seems to be catching up with his experimental quirks, Q-tip points out, and helps ensure, that there isn't so much that's new under the sun.

Grade: B+

Review: Drake - So Far Gone

Mainstream hip-hop seems to exist these days in a precocious era of being either unable or unwilling to escape the tendrils of last year's 808s and Heartbreaks. What began simply as an ill-advised onanistic project for Kanye West continues to inseminate this year's most anticipated projects, including Jay-z's Blueprint 3 and Kid Cudi's superb Man on the Moon, with its lightly percussive DNA. The latest release in this vein is So Far Gone by Drake, a Canadian-American actor-ternt-MC and the newest allegiant to Lil Wayne's Young Money Records. Originally released online for free in February as a mix-tape teaser to garner fans with, Gone has been shipped to record stores and online retailers this week as an EP, giving those same fans the opportunity to pay for a slightly updated version with a smaller collection of songs.

In addition to successfully undertaking the momentous task of not being overly cheesy, Kid Cudi's Man on the Moon was able to establish its own sound and identity, where it probably would have been enough to basically make another 808s for 09. While Drake clearly also has his own style, So Far Gone lacks any real edge or semblance of innovation, and eventually loses its edge altogether as it succumbs to a lazy and actually quite boring cadre of songs about relationships. The biggest distinction between his and Kanye's effort is that Drake is the one doing the heartbreaking: "And these days women make offers/and who the hell am I to say/No no no/My ex sendin' late night text/cause she don't know how to let/Go go go," Drake sings on the EP's dreadfully slow moving intro "Lust for Life", the title of which is likely to send Iggy Pop to an early grave to spin around in. It doesn't help that Drake's strengths aren't primarily as a singer, so expect plenty of pitch adjustment-'Death of Auto-tune" this is not. The mediocrity, and confusion for those who wanted to give "next big rapper" a shot, continues with "Houstatlantavegas," which leans much closer to Jodeci than Joe Budden on the Hip-hop spectrum.

The shame of it is that Drake can actually be a pretty clever lyricist when he wants to be. "Wise words from a decent man/back when i was tryin' to put a ring on Alicia hand/this lost boy got fly without peter pan/and my delivery just got me buzzin like the pizza man," he raps on "Successful", on which he manages to outshine both Trey Songz and Lil' Wayne. At times Drake's way of dragging out his syllables, through that half-cocked smile that you just know is plastered on his face can be charming, but there really aren't enough of those moments to strongly recommend puchasing this EP over the version that was made available for free back in February.

So Far Gone will certainly have its audience, however; Drake sums it up himself the best on the lead single-and incidentally the EP's strongest track- "Best I Ever Had:" "When my album drop/bitches will buy it for the picture/And niggas will buy it too/and claim they got it for they sister." Indeed, this is one of those albums that takes shamelessly transparent aim at a younger demographic whose palette has been adjusted by the impossible-to-elude robotic slow jams on today's radio, yet might find Kanye or even Jay-z's recent stuff to be a little too rough around the edges. When his official album Thank Me Later drops next year, Drake will do well to come with heavier material than this if he expects to enjoy any longevity.

Grade: C

Review: Kid Cudi - Man on the Moon: End of Day

The landscape of popular rap music has changed. As reluctant as anyone may be these days to credit Kanye West with anything, his album 808s and Heartbreak has seemingly inspired a new generation of hip-hop musicians with that album’s low-key, quasi-melodical synthesized feel. The most recent protegee being Kid Cudi, hailing from Cleveland with a style of originality which should, by now, feel familiar. That’s not necessarily a bad thing though, because the latest mutation of the “future-core” of rap expands on the whole idea. While Jay-z recently appointed himself as the snazzy trend-setting leader of this new school with Blueprint 3, Cudi’s envelope-pushing debut, Man on the Moon invents its own sort of stoner prog-rock sub genre.

Man on the Moon implicitly asks you from the very beginning to adorn your space-suit (or tie-die shirt) for an interstellar journey which most times sounds like a smoked out, chopped and screwed version of what 808s (which Cudi famously contributed to) could have been. Its concept is tied together as a 5 part epic narrated by Common, who is considerably (along with Andre 3000 of Outkast) one of the Godfathers of hip-hop’s newly acknowledged free spirited style. The end result is perhaps the most potent of all the experimental-and perhaps evolutionary-jabs that have been taken at the idea of what rap music is supposed to be.

Before we completely praise this thing, there are a few missteps. The opener, “In My Dreams” certainly could have used a second take. “Up and Away,” the end-of-the-album alarm clock, might be a bit more saccarhine than most listeners will be in the mood for. “Enter Galactic,” produced by Mat Friedman of ILFONICS, should just be a fun Pharrell Williams meets The Jimi Hendrix Experience club track, yet suffers from awkward wanna-be sex-god lyrics such as “I like when you talk because your voice is angelesque/aye, I want to kiss you on your space/below your naval-ette/the place that you keep meat so moist like/a towelette” Aside from that though, Man on the Moon really soars. The track following "Dreams," “Soundtrack 2 My Life” has a bubbly, hypnotic beat which plays the perfect back-drop for Cudi’s competently done sing-raps, and it’s lethargically upbeat mellowness sets a tone for the remainder of the album which doesn’t exhale until after the ultra-syrupy penultimate track, “Hyyerr,” is over.

Cudi’s lyrics, while not exactly versatile, for the most part uniquely reflect the struggle of an alienated loner who secretly knows that he has something to share with the world, and is waiting for his chance to express it. The lead single, “Day N Nite”, whose spacey thump was heard everywhere this year, to the point of being 2009’s “Hey Ya,” laments on having a cold season of being lonely and misunderstood. “My World” is the musing of an artistic geek who knows that his off-kilter vision will take him places :”None of ya’ll really cared about me/Now, guess what? I’m all you see/This will be my world/I told you so.”

Indeed, there are no guest appearances by Young Jeezy or T-Pain to extol the high-life or the thug mentality. Instead, this very impressive debut from the newest of the recent wave of space-rock hip-strappers, Kid Cudi, is a focused and personable work which is rife with themes of self-doubt and self-deprecation; yet just about every track on Moon gleams with crater-sized confidence in its ability to trip you out.

Grade: B

Review: Jay-Z - The Blueprint 3

“Welcome to the future,” the first line from "Off That", a self-congratulatory ode to the art of tastemaking, pretty much summarizes Blueprint 3, the latest release from rapper Jay-Z. With few exceptions, there isn’t much on the Blueprint 3 that will sound familiar to Jay-z loyalists. Last year’s 808s and Heartbreak, aside from being an uneven auto-tune festival, essentially ushered in a new sub-genre of hip-hop , that could be referred to as “future-core.” Jay-Z, featuring Timbaland, Pharell, NO I.D. and Kanye behind the boards, continues and further establishes this movement on Blueprint 3.

The weak album opener “Intro”, which is like a slower, duller “Flashing Lights” does not create great expectations for the rest of the album. However Blueprint 3 gains a certain momentum only three songs in, beginning with “D.O.A.” the album’s anti everything-currently-wrong-with-music lead single. Rhianna does an absolutley chilling hook on “Run This Town” with an eager to shine Kanye batting clean-up. “Empire State of Mind” will only add fuel to the feeling that old-school Jay-z fans have that Jay “went-all-coldplay” on this album; It’s also one of Blueprint 3’s best songs. Alicia Keys sings a stirring hook that will make non New-yorkers jealous, and residents of the city feel at home.

Unfortunately for some of the more established Jay-z fans, the “future-core” sound apparently involves a lot of synthesizers and R&B, which make Blueprint 3 sound a bit-watered down at times. It should be said though that the production on Jay’s albums, while usually supplied by whoever the most popular and respected beatmakers of that year are, has always taken a backseat to the man himself. Even when the instrumentals on this album isn’t always up to par, Blueprint 3 is one of Jay’s strongest turns lyrically. While Jay’s wordplay has always been about the same things (money, cars, women and money), the endless ways in which he finds to discuss those topics, often while employing double and triple entendres in the process, continue to be fascinating. The sort of “Don Draper of hip-hop” persona that he has established with his addictive charm (or plain arrogance) and lack of self-doubt continues here, and you get the sense that Shawn Carter can do in his sleep what other rappers can’t manage to do even after their morning coffee.

Jay’s boasting has never been less unwelcome than on the otherwise increasingly cloying Timbaland-produced track “Reminder”: “10 number 1 albums in a row/who better than me?/only the Beatles/nobody ahead of me/I crush Elvis in his blue suede shoes/Made the rolling stones seem sweet as Kool-aid, too.”Jay-z is probably the most acrobatic lyrically on “Venus vs. Mars”, boy-meets-girl story gone bad told entirely in metaphor: “Thought Shawty was the truth, found out she was a cheater/we were supposed to Takeover, I caught her bumping Ether/I thought shawty like Mike, found out she like Prince/thought she was Adrian, it’s been Rocky ever since.” The alluring, almost psychodelic Timbland instrumental ensures that this will be a strip-club favorite for many years to come. “On to the next” is one of the true gems on the album; Swizz Beats supplies the hook and a backing beat reminicenst of Snoop Dogg’s “Drop it like it’s Hot.” “Next” is appropriately followed by the hyperactive “Off That” featuring new-comer Drake. Another freshman rapper Kid Cudi has a guest turn on “Already Home” which features a lovely blend of horns, violins and hand-claps that are sure to enrapture any fan of good music after a few listens.

Blueprint 3 asks the question, much more effectively than Kingdom Come did, ‘Where to go from the top?’ Jay’s answer is to branch out and go beyond the archaic gun-talk and soul-samples that were prevelant on the first Blueprint album, and swerve into yet another lane going at least ’bout 80 and waiting for his contemporaries to catch up with him. Whether or not he will be succesful in blazing a trail for those that to follow is yet to be answered, yet those in doubt about his status as the king of rap are promptly quieted.

Grade: B

Review: Raekwon - Only Built for Cuban Linx II

While not exactly a concept album, Raekwon's 1995 solo debut Only Built for Cuban Linx, is considered by many to be one of the greatest gangsta films to ever be put on wax. Even back then, tales of sex, drugs, murder, and betrayal were nothing new to hip-hop; yet no one had been able to illustrate them with quite the cinematic quality that Raekwon was on Cuban Linx (think Scarface: The Musical). It was the album that essentially launched the sub-genre known as Coke-rap, which enjoyed a surge of popularity back in 2006 with Clipse's Hell Hath No Fury, and more recently with Rick Ross' Deeper Than Rap.

Gangster films rarely ever get sequels, though, since the main players usually end up dead or in jail by the end of the film. When they do get made, they often rarely deserve to share shelf-space with their predecessors. After 14 years, the Wu-Tang resident chef returns with his attempt at a true sequel to his own classic, appropriately titled Only Built for Cuban Linx II. But Linx II doesn't so much continue a story more than it continues the themes (deals-gone-bad, treacherous partnerships gone sour, and familial bonds kept strong) that were laced throughout the original. The result is an epic combination of lethal beats, vivid lyrics, and cut-ya-head-off swagger that has been missing from so many of the more recent Wu-tang releases.



The album's lead single, "New Wu" (alternatively titled Wu Ohh), was something that die-hard Wu fans thought they may never hear again after last year's dreadful 8 Diagrams: stunningly soulful production from the RZA himself with guest verses from Ghost and Meth. RZA (who single-handedly produced the first Cuban Linx) is all over Linx II, even when he isn't; J Dilla does his best impression of the Wu Abbot's style on “House of Flying Daggers” (which also features Ghost and Meth along with Inspectah Deck), and returns to handle production on the ODB tribute, “Ason Jones.” Along with the departed Dilla, Raekwon gathered beats from the best producers around; Alchemist, Pete Rock, and even Dr. Dre contribute enough heat to this product to make it harden.

The beats aren't the only reason to tune in, however. Wu-Tang members GZA, Cappadonna, and the ever-reclusive Masta Killa make appearances sprinkled throughout the album. Jadakiss, who seems to be sort of a journeyman of guest appearances these days, shows up along with Styles P on “Broken Safety.” Beanie Sigel drops by on “Have Mercy” to acknowledge and contemplate his own sense of aging. "Gihad" pretty much belongs to Ghostface Killah, who spins a dramatic tale of an altercation with his son in a verse which will remind heads why he belongs in their list of top rappers working today.

If it sounds like Cuban Linx II has the ingredients of a classic album, it's because it does. This is an album that's greater than the sum of its parts; Cuban Linx II should have been a total disappointment, yet it actually exceeds the standards created by its own hype. This isn't some hollow flash-in-the-pan collection of tracks to keep heads bopping only until the next big thing comes along; this is music that lasts. Hip-hop fans will be decoding the wu-slanguistics on this album for years, which hasn't been done with a Wu-tang release since the Forever days. After the recent wave of pretenders to the coke-rap throne, the originator has made a refreshing return to the game to show how it's done.

Grade: A