State of the 'Underground' // Jay Electronica

So in my last post I threw out something like 'backpack rap without pretension'. I'd like to riff on that idea for a second, partly to flesh out the thought itself but also as a way of approaching the enigmatic Jay Electronica.

Backpack rap, a catch-all term I use for socially conscious, lyrically minded hip hop outside the mainstream, recently kicked the bucket. The indie renaissance of '00-05 (think Cannibal Ox, Company Flow, Slug, Doom, Aes Rock, El-P, Cage) is...well, dead. As long as we're eulogizing, let's not forget how widely it broadened the rap horizon. These artists embraced eclecticism; cue up The New Danger, Float or Funcrusher Plus to hear grungy Creole blues, live jazz improv and gloomy electro-ambiance in turn. They held activism over self-aggrandizement, brains over dookie chains.
By around '06, the act was stale. Individuality gave way to mere novelty, sincerity to posturing, and it all became a bit silly―an amateur circus of slam poets with nasal voices and English B.A.s. While some critics seized this as an opportunity to scorn the entire genre with sensationalism and hyperbole, I see it as part of the natural ebb and flow.

The latter half of the decade saw Cam'Ron, Jeezy, Clipse, Rick Ross, Game, Maino and Fabolous welcomed by underground. Flashy, charismatic, semi-nihilistic coke rappers. Lyrics? Not much to speak of. Beats? Definitely bumpin, but innovation ain't a priority. The rubber band snapped back to rap about, well, you know, having fun.
Will it last long? Apparently not―2k9 was dominated by indie mixtapes from the likes of Elzhi, Skyzoo, Fashawn, J. Cole and Cyne. The cerebral storyteller came back with style. I'd side with A-Trak, who credits 808's & Heartbreak with much of the new creative energy. Things are more self-conscious this time around; DJ Furious Styles writes in the liner notes Jay Electronica's recent Victory, "Let’s welcome back the lyricists to Hip-Hop." These artists understand their place in hip hop history; there's something very authentic about it.

Few represent this rebirth more fully than Jay Electronica. Until recently the man's been a tornado of hype, best known for dating Erykah Badu and recieving two inexplicable endorsements from Nas and Mos Def. For me, the Just Blaze-produced "Exhibit" trilogy changed all that. He's the real deal. Listen and let me know if you hear the spark I do. Can you see him as part of this 'underground' revival? Where does he sit in relation to Aesop Rock, Cam'ron or Kanye?

Exhibit A

Exhibit B

Exhibit C

Wax(ing)

Between Spooky's Sound Unbound, Kode9's Sonic Warfare, and both Wax Poetics anthologies, the last few weeks have seen me reading more pseudo-intellectual garbage on the topic of post-modern music than I think healthy. But, as an aspiring psuedo-intellectual myself, I can't help but bring you my thoughts on DJ Shadow's recent essay concerning the post-everything musical landscape of 2010.

To recap: Shadow thinks financial success, the oft-ignored dynamo of all artistic production, is near-impossible in a world where the public has supplanted the record label with itself, via the internet.

Paradoxically, the rise of MTV and the major labels in the 1990s obscured the basic fact that something concrete, be it fame, fortune or fucking, must always motivate production. Sony, UMG and others took the idea of patronage to the extreme, repulsing those who sought music for the very intangible pleasure of listening. We forgot that money and art go hand-in-hand.

Inspired by lofty ideals like 'liberation' and anti-consumerism (and let's not forget the ever-present impulse to get something for nothing), we recklessly moved to free music from the 'evil' shackles of commodification. We shifted seat of power from corporate label to internet jury. Lemme hear you say / fight the power.

But in doing so, society has critically damaged the very foundation of the arts. Shadow calls the internet age "passionless, listless, hollowed-out," alluding to a Bradburian world where art reduces to vapid shock-value. There's no money, nothing concrete, at the base of this new pyramid. It's all just mastication. The labels, with all their interesting characters, cutthroat politics and, yes, glaring flaws, were infinitely more capable of fueling artistry than the bland 'internet community.' Sure, they may been self-interested and malintentioned, but at least they were invested.

Olmec's Top 10 (Remixes) of '08

1) Mariah Carey - I'll Be Lovin' U Long Time (Designer Drugs Remix)
2) MGMT - Kids (Soulwax Remix)
3) Chemical Brothers - Hey Boy, Hey Girl (Soulwax Remix)
4) Hercules & Love Affair - Blind (Frankie Knuckles Vocal)
5) Sigur ros - Saeglópur (Crash Overdrive Remix)
6) Justice - Waters of Nazareth (Erol alkan’s Durrr Durrr Durrrrrr Re-Edit)
7) Kanye West - Love Lockdown (Chew Fu Small Room Fix)
8) Lil’ Wayne - A Milli (Flying Lotus Remix)
9) Leona Lewis - Every Bleeding Breath (Divide & Kreate Mash)
10) Sia - Buttons (CSS Remix)

Musings

_____The last few weeks I've had the chance to listen to more electronic music than ever before. The downside of this bargain is that I've been cursed with the ability to critique it. What does this mean for Olmec, who once knew not Tellier from Granier—Busy P from So Me—Digweed from Dorfmeister? Ignorance is bliss, and so it was for my first few forays into the DJ game. Songs were judged on the criterion of fun alone. Compression ratios, granual synthesis, and reverberative overcompensation were words as far from my lexicon as could be. Sets had neither trajectory nor purpose, but they sure were fun. Uninhibited, they wove together hip hop and electro in an effective, if not obvious, way.
_____Now, this can not stand. I just can't help but obsess over the musical merits of it all—the social and musical philosophy of the whole process. Liberal-artsy as it might sound, I know that unless you understand each and every presumption upon which your views rest, you can't hold them at all. In the next few posts, I'll probe the foundations of my understanding of DJing as an art, profession and skill set. If nothing else, it should at least help me resolve some things I've been turning over in mind. For one, the musical merits of the DJ in all of his forms. What is his role as 1) party starter 2) energy arbiter 3) musical taste-maker. How do these roles change on the internet, where highly tweaked compositions reign, as opposed to live/in the mix. Is the DJ inherently a musician and, if not, how can he become one? How does Hypemachine fuck everything up?
_____The original concept behind Olmec was HoodInternet but for electronica. Simply stated, this has not played out. My tastes are getting more snoody, pushing more towards well-developed sounds, seeking that height of sonic fidelity rather than whatever these mortals call "fun." Is this a problem? Listen and find out - new mix droppin' in short time...