Devotion #11

Life is good – very good – but I’ll be damned if living it doesn’t sometimes feel like juggling a feral kitten, a soiled diaper (#2), and a skinned mango, all while riding uphill on a unicycle with a flat tire. I believe it was the sweet brother Kanye who implied, “Life is a bitch, dependin’ how you dress her,” so if this is indeed the case, I think I want life to be naked. That way, there are no surprises and I know exactly what I’m dealing with.

But if not naked, then I’d really like for life to be Shannyn Sossamon.



Babe Ruth – “Wells Fargo” – First Base (Harvest 1972)

Babe Ruth is responsible for “The Mexican,” a classic b-boy (i.e. “breakdancing”) track in the vein of the Incredible Bongo Band’s “Apache,” Herman Kelly & Life’s “Dance to the Drummer's Beat,” and “It’s Just Begun” by The Jimmy Castor Bunch. “The Mexican” was originally released on First Base in 1972, but found new life when it was re-discovered by a burgeoning hip-hop culture and became an anthem for the dance floor expression of rampant gang violence in the Bronx and Brooklyn boroughs of New York City. The cross-genre appeal of “The Mexican,” however, overshadowed what was a very good quasi-progressive rock album from one of the more unheralded bands of their time.

Jay-Z – “So Ghetto” – Vol. 3: Life and Times of S. Carter (Roc-A-Fella 1999)

Jay-Z has a new album coming out (which I’ve heard), apparently inspired by a new Denzel Washington film (which I’ve seen), and I must say that I’m a lot more excited about the film. I’m not going to get all long-winded on Jay, though. I’m a big admirer of his talent and business acumen, but he’s really in no man’s land with the rapping. People didn’t seem to like 2006’s Kingdom Come because of his insistence on throwing the noveau riche-ness of his current lifestyle all up in our faces, so with American Gangster, Jay is supposedly getting back to the tales of drug dealing and street hustling that helped make him a hip-hop superstar. The problem with this is, when was the last time he actually sold drugs or hustled anywhere that wasn’t 8th Avenue and 50th Street in Manhattan, home of the Island Def Jam Group, where he serves as president and CEO of Def Jam Recordings and Roc-A-Fella Records?

Sure, you can always go home again, and I’m all for an artist getting back to basics, but here we are, over ten years since his Reasonable Doubt debut, and Jay-Z is singing the same old songs – probably because he has little else to talk about. He’s always been rather one-dimensional in that respect. People gave Common heat over a line on Finding Forever about how his “daughter found Nemo,” but Com’s in his mid-30s, so rapping about his daughter finding Nemo isn’t out of the ordinary. At least he’s found his niche. I’m not sure what Jay’s looking for, but at his age, unless 40 is the new 20 and not the new 30, he’s not going to find it in a recording booth.

M.I.A. – “The Turn” – Kala (XL 2007)

When M.I.A. broke a few years ago, I was skeptical of her musical authenticity, writing in a local publication about her overnight appeal and how there was an air of contrivance in which the Sri Lankan songstress seemed to have arrived on the scene. And I’m still not fully convinced, as the combination of her music, her politics, and her visual art makes for a pretty confusing affair. There’s such a mess of information on her Wikipedia page that reading it almost gave me the spins. But I do admire the growth she has shown as an artist since her 2005 debut, because her new album, Kala, is excellent.

So, props to you, M.I.A…whoever you are.

Kool & The Gang – “Ronnie's Groove” – Live at P.J.’s (De-Lite 1971)

The title of this song pretty much speaks for itself.