It’s been a minute since the brothers Parker have dropped heat together (remember this one?). Real life got in the way of the team for a bit, but the duo is reunited for the track and accompanying video “Ron Burgundy”, in which the brothers recreate the penultimate fight scene from the eponymous movie. The Parker Report is coming later this year featuring production by Kuddie Fresh and Tha Bizness.
Insert coffee to begin.
THE SIX: Featuring Sol
[THE SIX is a regular interview feature on 206UP.COM with a simple format: One member of the local hip hop community and six questions. For past editions click here.]
You probably know the story: Seattle rapper on the come-up graduates from the University of Washington and, just as his buzz starts reaching ears nationwide, promptly flees the country for parts unknown. If this sounds unfamiliar, then you haven’t been following the path of Sol, former winner of the EMP Sound Off! competition and, according to many Seattle rap denizens, perhaps the next to pull a Macklemore and blow up on a national level.
Maybe.
In the meantime, Sol continues to do it his way and on his terms alone, drawing respect and admiration from all corners of the Seattle hip hop community. He’s playing the long game in an industry holding a what-have-you-done-for-me-lately attitude, preferring quality over quantity — a unique precept that many Town artists, from The Physics to Blue Scholars, seem to share.
206UP managed to steal a few minutes of the MC’s time for this edition of THE SIX. Here Sol sheds illumination on his recent globe-trotting and what it means for his return to the proverbial “rap game”.
First off, Sol, welcome back to the United States. Before you left on your trip, what sort of trepidation did you have about going, especially as it pertained to your music career?
These days, people are so afraid of disconnecting from their routines and their comfort zones. On top of that, as [hip hop] artists we are constantly battling to stay relevant and competing for listeners. So the idea of detaching from this grind for a year brought about those obvious fears. But, ultimately, those are the same concerns that lead me to go on sabbatical in the first place. As an artist, you need to break that routine in search of inspiration. You must creatively operate outside of your comfort zone both artistically and physically. And finally, I plan to have a life in music and hope to make songs that stand the test of time. So a year away from the “rap life” is nothing in the grand scheme of things.
Do you think your travels will affect the way you make music in the future?
I hope to be fortunate enough to enjoy a lifetime of travel. This last trip alone has instilled that as a priority for me. Every day, every time I write or perform I feel the experiences pouring out of me. I think as I tour and more new music is released other people will see it too.
What was the most interesting discovery you made in regard to how people in other parts of the world make or experience hip hop music?
Great question. Everywhere you go, youth are connecting with hip hop. The culture translates over and helps them express and deal with hardship. Seeing how the music sonically differs from continent to continent and country to country was super dope.
You talked somewhere about going to places that you specifically “shouldn’t.” Why was that philosophy important to you?
Most barriers come from within. We construct ideas of what we should be doing or where we think others go and follow. I, however, choose to abandon that approach and instead follow no path but my own. Both musically and personally it has led me to success and happiness so far, so why stop?
What was the last great book you’ve read, or movie you’ve seen?
Super random actually. I just re-read the 1897 original Dracula book by Bram Stoker. That book was so dope; it has had a cultural impact lasting for more than a century now. His ancestors should get Twilight royalties.
Tell us about Eyes Open, your next project due in September.
I came back to the United States after ten months of traveling around the world and had absolutely no idea what would happen next. I hit the studio heavy with my team Nima Skeemz and Elan Wright and created something beautiful. What this project is for me is the answer to a lot of questions. With my previous album, Yours Truly, I was figuring out who I was and defining my sound. With this project, Eyes Open, I am absolutely sure of who I am and what my purpose is. This is when I build my legacy.
THOUGHT BUBBLE: The Problem with Online Music Criticism (and a Doris Album Review Drinking Game!)
The online music criticism universe is becoming an increasingly self-referential place. We — and I say “we” because I’m including my own stuffy self here — seem eager to stumble all over each other in a mad dash to be the first to say some shit about an album. Shit that will inevitably be repeated ad nauseum in numerous other reviews on various other sites that are all virtual clones of “that one” site we increasingly love to hate, but can’t help but click on during our first round of morning coffee.
To wit: In my Doris review I used the words “absentia” and “preternatural” inside the first two paragraphs of the piece. Why? Because I’m really fucking clever and I like to use precious vocabulary like this in order to prove my worth to the handful of uptight dicks who love geeking out over sickly turgid music criticism such as the kind I feel compelled to steal time at work to write (#runonsentence). So imagine my chagrin as I read Son Raw’s (excellent) take on Doris over at Passion of the Weiss and finding, you guessed it, exactly the same two words within the first two paragraphs of his review.
(At this point in my #rant I find it important to note that I’ve made it my strict policy to never read the other reviews of albums prior to completing my own. This to avoid the dreaded sway of other writers’ opinions that I value, and the subconscious — and, let’s be honest, not-so-subconscious — lure of straight-up plagiarism. So, Son Raw, if you’re reading: I didn’t bite your steez, hand to God.)
(And also: I count myself lucky that David Reyneke, Andrew Martin, et al, have allowed me to be a regular contributor to their labor of music love, Potholes In My Blog, and I think that the stable of writers they’re putting on over there holds up in talent and knowledge base to any of the fools Metacritic feels worthy of co-signing.)
All this to say: the act of tapping out intelligent, well-considered album reviews these days feels like an exercise in expositional diminishing returns. And reading said criticism by other writers feels like the limpest circle jerk in the history of circle jerks. (And I say “circle jerks” specifically because, WE’RE ALL DUDES HERE, a whole other problem in itself that definitely deserves its own column/#rant.)
I’m not really here to offer solutions to the dilemma because I’m still trying to figure out what an adequate solution might look like. (Maybe it’s hopeless, like the Yelp Corollary [my term], which says that everything rated online and en masse inevitably trends toward the status quo.) Maybe I’ll start writing reviews that can only be read with a magic decoder ring. Maybe I’ll learn the alphabet of my native language and paint my reviews by hand on the sides of buildings in Flushing, Queens. Who knows what appropriately subversive tact I’ll take in order to exact my cold revenge? What I am here to do is #rant about it (obviously), and collate all of the standard tropes found in Doris reviews the web over into a comical and therapeutic game for drinking, aimed especially at folks like me who turn to the internet on the dawn of every major album release hoping for intelligent discourse.
Yes, it took me that many paragraphs to get here.
So, with that, take a drink every time…
- A well-listened hip hop critic compares Earl Sweatshirt to MF Doom.
- A self-important critic complains about how most of Earl’s verses “don’t make any sense.”
- A warm and fuzzy critic praises Earl for his “autobiographical” and “confessional” lyrics.
- An unimpressed critic is displeased with Doris’ understated production values.
- A fussy critic reasons that there were too many guest features.
- A concerned critic references Earl’s time spent in a Samoan rehabilitation center.
- A highbrow critic notes that Earl’s father is a South African poet laureate.
- A lowbrow critic refers to the lack of rape fantasies on Doris.
- An impassioned critic declares Earl as the best rapper in Odd Future.
- An armchair psychiatrist critic calls Doris a “therapeutic” exercise for Earl.
- An estranged critic mentions Earl’s “absent father.”
- A hyperbolic critic deems Doris a “classic.”
And finally, take a shot for me if…
- You believe my review of Doris to be bloated overkill and an example of the exact problem about which I’m #ranting.
VIDEO: “Backseat (New Ride)” – Scribes (dir. by Detooz Films)
Scribes released the accompanying video to his latest single, “Backseat (New Ride)”. Detooz Films with the vision. Scribes’ SeaCal Drive EP drops September 17. Grab the track here.
REVIEW: Doris – Earl Sweatshirt
Earl Sweatshirt
Doris
Tan Cressida / Columbia Records; 2013
Score (Potholes In My Blog scale): 4.0 / 5.0
Click here to read my review of Earl Sweatshirt’s debut album, Doris.
NEW MUSIC: Butterfly Sauce – Larry Hawkins & Davey Jones
Sportn’ Life head DeVon Manier teased this release in the most recent edition of THE SIX which is just below — scroll down for that. Larry Hawkins and Davey Jones have teamed up for Butterfly Sauce, a fusion of rap and R&B. Grab it for free here:
THE SIX: Featuring DeVon Manier
Photo courtesy of the artist’s Twitter page.
[THE SIX is a regular interview feature on 206UP.COM with a simple format: One member of the local hip hop community and six questions. For past editions click here.]
If you’re a fan of Seattle hip hop, you probably wouldn’t know DeVon Manier’s voice if you heard it. You would, however, know his artists’. Manier co-founded the venerable hip hop label Sportn’ Life Records back in 2002 which has grown to be the region’s most successful independent purveyor of local rap and R&B. Co-founder D. Black (now known as Nissim) is a familiar voice; so is Fatal Lucciauno’s; and Spac3man’s. You get the picture.
Manier’s influence on the Town scene is far-reaching but fairly under the radar. He sits on or advises various boards around the city including the City of Seattle Music Commission (founded in 2010), a vital municipal task force dedicated to preserving Seattle’s rich music tradition. To understand the scope of our city’s hip hop heritage, you must at least partially go through DeVon Manier. We’re excited and pleased that he took a few minutes to hop on this week’s edition of THE SIX.
You and your team started Sportn’ Life Records in earnest back in 2002. Talk about the hip hop “environment” in Seattle then. Why did you think it was a good time to start a label?
From my position at the time, the local environment was nice and competitive, but just starting to grow and separate. It felt more like “hip hop” and less like just “rap music.” The business mindset was just starting to settle in with most people. There were a few labels popping up and the biggest names at the time were Boom Bap Project and Byrdie if I remember right.
The number one reason for starting a label at the time was that the talent was staring us right in the face. We had a crop of fresh talent from the CD [Central District] and South End neighborhoods, and I couldn’t wait to take the music “downtown” so to speak, especially since it was a time where music from Seattle’s black communities wasn’t getting much shine. It was also a great time to sell CDs out of the trunk of the car and strive to be like Roc-A-Fella, No Limit, Bad Boy and earn money while making a name on the streets.
“Live For Now” – Nissim (feat. Bonhom)
As a record label owner, is it frustrating these days to have to compete not only against other labels, but the “independent” movement as well? Is the monumental success of someone like Macklemore a death knell for record labels?
It’s probably frustrating to those [who] aren’t willing to embrace new tasks, new business models, and new roles in the industry. Sportn’ Life recognizes our strengths and we’ve recently made a change to do more artist management and consulting, to less label work. It just makes sense for our situation. Overall, I don’t think labels are dead — maybe record companies are. Today some indie artists have a “team” of people doing the work of a label, or a manager; artists are doing the work of a label. Either way you look at it, the work has to get done, things have to be paid for, and fans need to help.
Is there one particular “artist that got away” who sticks out during your time with Sportn’ Life?
Nah, not really. There [are] a few that I wished we had gone further with, or released more material from, but that’s about it. But none that “got away.”
“King Street Freestyle” – Spac3man
Is the Seattle market capable of supporting so many hip hop acts? Do you think the scene will reach an over-saturation point? — Or has it already?
Well, whack stuff has a way of weeding itself out eventually, and that always helps the odds. But just as long as people want to hear, pay for, and go see music live, I think we’ll be fine. Seattle is a mecca of music and creativity, and I don’t see that stopping anytime soon.
What was the last song that played on your iPod (or on your car stereo)? Be honest!
I’m not familiar with the song names yet, but the last album I played was the new Mayer Hawthorne Where Does This Door Go.
Go ahead and plug one or two upcoming projects in the Sportn’ Life pipeline.
Up next from the label would be Spac3man’s EP Beyond the Stars. Then we’ll be releasing a long delayed project from My Life My Love, a collective group consisting of Nissim, Fatal Lucciauno, Spac3man, and Larry Hawkins. As far as artists we manage, people can definitely look out for a new EP from Fly Moon Royalty and the debut project from Larry Hawkins and Davey Jones titled Butterfly Sauce. They’re a new R&B/rap duo who we think will be turning quite a few heads this Summer/Fall.
“This Way That Way” – Larry Hawkins & Davey Jones
VIDEO: “White Walls” – Macklemore & Ryan Lewis (Live on Good Morning America)
GMA would never let a Black rapper rap about his Caddy’s white walls. It all goes down easier when it’s a white boy. Just sayin…
(Shout-out to Hollis.)
NEW MUSIC: “Levels” – Dave B (feat. Jarv Dee; prod. by Kuddie Fresh)
Dave B and Jarv Dee wax poetic on industry rules. Kuddie Fresh pastes a lush sample over a classic break-beat. This from Dave’s upcoming The Doughnuts EP.
NEW MUSIC: “Back Seat (New Ride)” – Scribes (prod. by Captain Midnite)
Scribes will undoubtedly obtain the Kinda Like Drake label as more ears track his music. It’s important to remember that dude was doing his thing before So Far Gone dropped, so yeah…smoke that in your pipe. Here he updates the whole “back seat of my Jeep, let’s swing an episode” thing fairly well. Captain Midnite on the beat.
A SEATTLE HIP-HOP BLOG 