Window Seat

ERYKAH BADU'S video for her first single off of New Amerykah Part II: Return of the Ankh dropped today. I just watched it and at first I didn't get it; I thought she was crazy... 

And that is her point exactly. This video is genius. Her message at the end applies to society's biggest problem: people so are quick to dismiss or condemn what they don't understand. We commit the convenient crime of "group thinking" because we can share the guilt, rather than stand alone.

So watch this video and find a way to stray from comfortable conforming and be an individual.   


http://www.erykahbadu.com/ watch the video here

A Chat with Just a Band!

NOT ONLY IS JUST A BAND refreshingly talented in producing their own music, designing their own graphics AND creating and directing their own videos, but they also have great personalities in real life; and I was lucky enough to interview these fine fellas exclusively for The Good BL0G!

from left to right: Jim Chuchu, Dan Muli, and Bill 'Blinky' Sellanga

The Good BL0G: Your videos, album art and other imagery complement your music well. If you weren't a DIY type of group do you think you’d have the same results? If your label ever wanted you to work with another visual artist would you do it?

Just A Band:Yes, we have thought about working with other visualists, and we're not opposed to it. At the moment, Mbithi Masya is about to solo-direct a video for us, which should be fun; he collabo'd with Jim on Ha-He and he's been helping out more and more on the visual side of things, so he really gets where we're coming from.
TGB:Where do you find inspiration for your music and your video concepts?

JAB:Inspiration comes from anywhere, if you keep your eyes open. When you're making videos, you have to think about the song, and what fits with the vibe of the song, but then you have to add some flavour, which is where our addictions to everything from movies, music, comics and anime to obsessively following directors like Michel Gondry and Quentin Tarantino. And, of course, Life Itself.

TGB: Had you guys never gotten into the music biz, what professions would you be doing?
JAB: Jim says he'd be devising some new opiate for the masses. Daniel says he'd still be traversing the desert as part of his Toureg caravan, which he still misses terribly. Bill says, "Music or Bust." 
TGB: When your band came together in 2003, did you think that Kenyan audiences would receive your particular style of music well?

JAB: We didn't know what people would think! To be honest, it was not as huge a factor as you'd have thought. Just A Band was what we all decided would be the place for us to do things we couldn't do in our day jobs/other bands, it would be the one place we'd have where imagination and humour and all that good stuff would always win out over, "Oh, you're going to totally lose the audience with this one."  

TGB: Where would your band be if the internet never existed?

JAB: We shudder to think! The internet has been so integral to the growth of this band, both in terms of reaching the kind of audience that appreciates what we do, and in the way you can easily and cheaply put stuff out, with you in control of the whole show, that if not for the net, well... let's not go there.

TGB: What (non- musical) sounds do you love?

JAB: Daniel likes the sound of breakfast meats sizzling on an oily pan. Bill likes rain. 

TGB: It’s a clear, starry Friday day night in Nairobi, what can we find the members of Just A Band doing?

JAB: We're sadly very geeky, plus we tend to do loud, clubby things for work, so we tend to think of R&R in the old school sense; chilling out in front of our computers (no TV!), probably with a movie on.
TGB: Makmende, from the ‘Ha- He’ video is such a badass, he doesn‘t have the need for a super power. But if you each could attain a superhuman ability to up your level of badassery, which ones would you choose?

JAB: Jim would be invisible, thereby enhancing his natural mystique. Bill says "Co-ordination", and Daniel would gain the power to gain other people's powers.(OK, Bill didn't say Co-ordination, that was a cheap shot. Clearly, someone's out to discredit him! Bill says Flight. :D)

TGB: Bill, why do they call you Blinky?

JAB: Bill's nickname (CLICK HERE) 

TGB: Dan, I’ve read that you are into Anime and Manga. If you could place yourself into any fantastical story, as any character, which would it be?

JAB: I'll be really cheesy about this and say that I'd like to be Luke Skywalker. 

TGB: Jim, how did you learn to use computer design programs so well? Do you ever use it to impress the ladies?

JAB: No. 

TGB: Some songs like ‘Stay’ (off of 82.) have female vocals in them. Would you ever pull a Black Eyed Peas move and adopt a Fergie into your band?

JAB: Funnily enough, a few weeks ago we saw that N*E*R*D had adopted a girl singer, so there have been a lot of jokes in the house about getting a girl in the group. We're not convinced yet, though! 

TGB: If one wanted to book your band for a gig, but we lived in a hypothetical multiverse where money doesn’t exist, what objects would you want to be paid in?

JAB: But of course: Sweetmeats and ambrosia! 

TGB: Imagine your music was a great, big pool of wet cement. What impression do you want to make?

JAB: Haha!...... Aki (friend), we can't think of an answer to this one. You win. :P

Just a Band is More than 'Just a Band'

IMAGINE POP MUSIC with thoughtful album concepts and brilliant visuals, developed by a super self- sufficient, "geeky boy band." What you get is Just a Band. A totally awesome Kenyan electro-house-funk-pop group that utilizes web- based mediums and futuristic computer graphics to complement their genre- bending music (with a splash of African flavor). 
They arrived in 2008 with their first album, Scratch to Reveal, but with the release of their newest album, 82., they have become a bona fide sensation on the world wide web and the Nairobi club scene. They can accredit their international success to their internet marketing and Youtube channel, which features their 'homemade' videos such as this one for the song "Ha-He."

The recent popularity of Just a Band has culminated in the character of Makmende, who we are introduced to in this video. The badass vigilante a la Shaft, has totally swept Twitter and #Makmende was actually the number one trending topic in Kenya last week.
This group is worth listening to because they bring something to African music, and music in general that has been missing for a while now; Authenticity.
They are unique in their sound, their imagery, concepts and humor. Which is why they are gaining momentum at rapid speeds. I'm excited to see where they take us in the future through their music and videos.

Be sure to check out both Just a Band albums on Amazon or Itunes. 

You can listen to the entire 82 album here.

(my favorite songs are Extra, Sunrise, and Uko Mbele)

    

www.just-a-band.com  

Reflection Eternal ft Bun B- Strangers

I WAS UNDER the impression that Kweli had fallen off after the Idle Warship Party Robot album had dropped. I'm glad he's proving me wrong, because his verse right here is Hot Sauce!

And I absolutely cannot deny Bun B. over the right beat (see Termanology ft. Bun B.- This is How We Rock)

De- Census- tizing the Standardized Race Assumption

DOES ANYONE ELSE experience this? You ever just go about your business one day on your way to fill out a 2010 Census and someone comes up and calls you an African- American? Immediately you are taken aback like "Woah, woah, buddy this is the 21st century. I HAVE RIGHTS!" How dare someone assume that just because you have beige to brown skin and your hair is of coarser texture that you want to be called an African- American!

Let's break this concept down. Virtually every person with a dark complexion and textured hair is categorized as African- American (at least that's what institutionalized political correctness rulebooks have taught me) so that means if I see a Trinidadian person with brown skin I should call them an African American, even though their heritage and culture is Caribean? Or a British Black person who has never even been to North or South America? And a Black person in the United States whose African lineage was severed hundreds of years ago during slavery should still be referred to as African American? Yet Charlize Theron who was born and raised in South Africa I should refer to as...?

Charlize Theron is more African than I am

I am technically an African- American; meaning I am of immediate African descent (Kenyan) but I was born in North America and maintain American citizenship. I just think Its a super primitive concept, given the migration of "Negroid" humans around the world, to still be labeling  people of our appearance as only Africans. There is race and then there is Nationality. African American is referring to nationality and yet people use it to describe the Black race.

I'm not saying that you are not worthy of being an African or whatever. This post isn't even meant to offend anyone. I don't hate people who are commonly referred to as "African- American," I just hate that the term was put into place in order to respect people's heritage when in my opinion it does the opposite. It makes no sense to group every Black person as African American, not that we shouldn't be unified, but the same way we don't call Polynesians or Inuits Asian Americans, we should not call every Black person African American. It's not endearing or appeasing anyone. All it does is sanction the idea that Black people in America (who have descended from slavery) are displaced and will never form a culture of their own.

Hanging up on "Telephone"

WHEN I CAUGHT WIND OF LADY GAGA AND BEYONCE'S official release of the nine and a half minute long video for Telephone, I got déjà vu of Michael Jackson's 14 minute Thriller mini movie. Naturally, I expected Gaga's premiere to be spectacular, as she is an innovative pop icon, much like the late Michael Jackson. When I finally watched Telephone however, I found an elongated and overly- intricate video that was disconnected to the song and just-- busy.

Peppered with Beyonce's poor acting and an undercooked plot, I was so surprised to hear rave reviews of this video on Twitter, Youtube, my Facebook, and just in conversations with people I know. This video can be considered offbeat, as most of Lady Gaga's work is; but this is not the root of my criticism. I don't think it is right to dismiss the eccentricities of this video as "Avant Garde" and just keep it moving. Just because Gaga has established herself as an innovative pop musician, who has shown us that she is not afraid to push the envelope, doesn't mean we should just give her license in every aspect of her art without question. I'm not saying this video is complete nonsense, I'm just saying that the audience should still discern what we like and dislike about it. I expect more from Lady Gaga, as this is just the beginning of her career. And as a fan, I know that this can't be the top of her game. 

WHY THIS VIDEO DIDN'T SUIT THIS PARTICULAR SONG:

The video alone was not that bad. I could see that the story is a continuation of the Paparazzi video. It was just really inconsistent with the song. Yeah, I get it. If Lady Gaga did a video in a dance club as expected; it wouldn't be creative, and that's just not Gaga. She played poker in the Pokerface video- granted that wasn't really her greatest masterpiece. My point is, I would have liked to see some art direction in this video that at least alludes to being on a dance floor and having life interrupted, or something about the annoyance of constant communication. Or something that actually correlated with the song! 

THE DEAL WITH ALL THOSE DETAILS:

•  I can infer that the whole "Told you she doesn't have a dick..." thing is a suggestion that constant media scrutiny can be imprisoning when you're famous. 
• The Madonna makeup was a nice subtle homage, and so was the Michael Jackson shuffle move as she exited the prison.
• I see that the phone is a symbol of liberation; Beyonce calls Lady Gaga before she bails her out. (sidenote: one thing that bugged me is that this was a prison setting and you can't bail a convict out of prison.)
• The phone appears again in a scene with Beyonce in a bedroom during her verse of the song. She sings "sometimes i feel like I live in grand central station..." as her body fidgets and kind of short circuits, as does Gaga's in the sandwich scene. This probably indicates the control that technology, namely the phone, has over our beings.
• There was sooo much product placement in this video. which makes sense because it was probably very costly to make and someone had to pay for it. I liked that they kind of made a joke of it by overemphasizing the brands.
• As for movie references, The Thelma and Louise nod when Honeybee and Gaga held hands in the close was cute, and the Kill Bill Pussy Wagon and the Tarantino- esque moment in the diner with Tyrese was cool too, but it just seemed out of place to me. (click here to read another blogger's interesting analysis of the metaphorical value of all the details in this video)

WHAT THE HELL AM I WATCHING?

There were several things in this video that still remain a mystery to me and made me wonder-- what the hell?

• What was with the prolonged lesbian kiss in the prison yard?
• And the fight with the brunette Gaga double? (played by Lady Gaga's actual sister)
• Why did Honeybee feed Gaga that honey bun? 
• What were those burger and mirror quotes about?
• Why was Gaga wearing the same clear outfit from the bathtub scene in Bad Romance?

MY FAVORITE PART OF THE VIDEO (THOUGH IT STILL HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH THE SONG):

I was personally blown away by the murder in the diner. It was comical and disturbing at the same time to hear/ see the amplified croaking of all the patrons who were stuffing their faces with poisoned breakfast delights. I LOVE how it was followed by Lady Gaga and Beyonce's outburst of celebratory dance in Americana gear. It really says a lot about America's blind consumption of all things that are bad for us, be it media, food, drugs, consumer culture, politics, you name it. This scene was so clever and eye opening, and it's a message that prevails in a lot of Gaga's music. 

Whatchu Mean??

THE OSCARS for me this year were a bit of a fail.

5. Gabby Sidibe didn't win Best Actress. (you'll get 'em next time girl)
4. Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire  didn't win best picture
3. When I found out that Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince was nominated for cinematography, I simultaneously found out it didn't win.
2. I have yet to see a majority of the movies which were nominated. ( I think the only movie I actually saw was Precious hence my enormous support)
1. I didn't even get to watch the Oscars because of this stupid Cablevision/ Abc Beef!

... anyway kudos to Mo'nique for winning Best Supporting Actress. ( Professor Oglivee is probably mad he missed out.)

DillaDawg

FEBRUARY was a month in which the hip hop community celebrated the life of J Dilla, also known as "your favorite producers, favorite producer."

February 7, 1974 – February 10, 2006

 

Artists such as Common, Erykah Badu, Dwele, De La Soul, Mad Lib, Termanology, and many others you should check out have paid their tributes to this remarkable beat producer and now I have the pleasure of sharing a brand new track by two accomplished underground rappers from Philly, VERBATUM JONES, and ASAAD. The track is called DILLADAWG. Give it a listen and follow them on Twitter ( @VerbatumJones and @Asaad215)

Music Playlist at MixPod.com