Live From The Milkcrate, 3.29.10 from Milky on Vimeo.
The Milky Way closes out the night’s work with a nasty jam session from scratch….live from the band’s Los Angeles headquarters, The Milkcrate.
The Seeds of a Style – “Just to Hear Me Rip”
Thanks to B.Price of They Shootin’, I’ve rediscovered what is arguably the first full-song I ever wrote with just my verses on it. There’s a story behind it, right after this video. I wanted to celebrate and shout out some of my favorite mic rippers caught in action over the years….
I wrote this song one winter night in a dodgy attic, surrounded by guns, drugs and holy books. The only heat in the space came from the light of a small desk lamp with a red bulb in it. I was alone in headphones, sitting on a mattress with no frame. Everything was dim red. I had a Newport for dinner and 80-ounces of Icehouse for dessert. This was back when my ‘closet’ was the space between one man’s couch and another man’s wall. All I had was a few notebooks and my folks. It was early winter in the Year 2000, and I was in a very shady attic. The first time I heard this beat, I knew it was mine, even though some of my boys had already written and recorded a song for it. But that was almost a year prior…and their song had since collected dust. The beat had called my name all year. I bided my time, and when they lost interest in it, I moved in. Flash forward, and I was in a freezing attic….twirling my pen in the dark with the shadiest of people downstairs. But wild horses weren’t gonna keep me from that beat. Sitting on that mattress in the red light, I put my hood on and my head down, clicked open my pen and began my life as a songsmith. I woke up the next morning with the beat on repeat in my headphones and a finished song in my lap. Some time later that day, Jae Ellis would hop into the booth and lay down an epic chorus harder than both of my verses combined….I still had a long way to go.
MP3 Download: Sumkid feat. Jae Ellis – “Just To Hear Me Rip” (1999)
Next Big Sound (feat. Chris Clarke)
Soundtrack for this post: Chris Clarke – “Serious Mystic” from his new mixtape “The Move-Maker Mixtape”
Sounds like: A belligerent monk telecasting from Planet Grime
Why you should download it: Chris Clarke is L.A. born and bred, and his faith in Los Angeles-based musicians comes across in pure mic agression. My boy is nice. DOWNLOAD THE WHOLE MIXTAPE HERE ON BANDCAMP.
I discovered a new tool called NextBigSound.com while browsing around trying to catch the newest latest on SXSW since I couldn’t be there. I was so impressed that I linked them immediately and put them in the WAYS & MEANS section. Any artist, label or fan can sign up and track their buzz online across just about every major platform. You can also check to see how you size up against other acts in your genre. The stats are real-time. And the service is FREE. For artists serious about tracking their buzz and how effective their online hustle is, this one comes highly recommended and co-signed by The Good Look.
The Songwriter’s iPad (feat. Clan Destined)
Soundtrack for this post: Clan Destined – “Patience”, from their new concept-sampler, A Story Never Told.
Sounds like: A platinum space pod fulla the best damn macaroni & cheese you’ll ever shove into your friggin pie hole.
Why you should download it: You never heard a producer-duo this nice on the mic. DOWNLOAD THE WHOLE PROJECT HERE ON BANDCAMP. Here’s my favorite for the day…
Everybody knows that Apple is dropping the iPad any minute now, and it has many a geek moist in the parts. Personally, I’ve never had a mobile Mac device (iPhone, iPod, iPod Touch, etc), and only recently became a full-fledged Mac user at the beginning of last year. To be honest, gadget-hounding aint really my thing, so I usually couldn’t care less when the world is a-twitter about big Apple releases. But something about this iPad has the songwriter/performer in me thinking…..
When you want it? Nooowwww...(listen to the song and you'll get it)
Three Things I Could Do With An iPad
1. Mobile Song-Sketching: I’m by no means a producer, but I can get around on most music production software in a basic way. Definitely enough to lay down sketches that I can pass on to real musicians later. With the baby music production apps that are bound to flood this machine, I can already see using the iPad as a full out workshop for my song ideas. Writing lyrics and constructing arrangements as I fly to my Summer home in Madagascar, tipping back Manhattans…..
2. Video Editing To-Go: The iPad is gonna have iTunes, so I don’t think it’s a stretch for iMovie to be part of the package at some point…especially with Apple boasting that the iPad is such a glorious multi-media experience. With the iPad, I could have a quick and light way to do minor video edits of my adventures on the road and beyond, living The Life Independent™. Cut, edit, publish and preview all at once on a touch-screen interface? Most convenient.
3. Portable Portfolio: I’m walking into a bar. I run into Thom Yorke, ?uestlove, Trent Reznor and (insert name of influential musician). They’ve heard of me and The Milky Way. They want to know more, but only have time for one shot of whiskey. Sure, I could pull out my laptop, load up my OS, open up my website and show them the wild world of Sum. But that might take longer than they have the time for. Or, with the iPad’s nifty PDF, document, music and video capabilities, I’m walking with a digital portfolio of everything I’ve ever done. And I can access it all, right there, in the time it takes to throw back a shot. With the touch of the screen. They leave amazed after setting up tours and meetings with me. I’m on a horse.
Of course, these are all the wild imaginings of an indie artist….who knows if the damn thing will be able to do anything at all. But in thinking about the possibilities of what Apple’s newest toy might open up, I can’t help but wonder how it might impact those of us living The Life Independent™. We shall see….
For my artists out there, can you think of any other ways we might be able to use it?
The Warm Side of The Pillow
This part of the grind is what keeps me humble. But it also puts a beer en mah belly.
Every once in a while, I get called in to write something “on spec”. This usually means I have to come in and sound like some other rapper on a beat that’s a knock-off of some popular song already in circulation. For instance, a few weeks ago I had to go write a piece for a movie trailer that sounded like Common’s “Universal Mind Control”. If you don’t already know, this is a song I hate more than liver paste, from an album less enjoyable than a rat steak. I had to listen to “Universal Mind Control” and “U.M.C.” KNOCK-OFFS for hours on end. The cherry on the karma-cake was that I then had to write three different versions. All providing further proof that I’m living a dark comedy. And that’s why this part of the grind keeps me humble.
Also, being a rapper-voice-for-hire requires craftsmanship. It’s a steady process of stepping away from my ego, going in and getting the job done. Writing on spec is an exercise in discipline and learning how to separate church and state. The bills have to get paid, I’m good at rapping and I work quickly and efficiently. So I’m using what I have to get what I need…that’s empowering. It has also been an exercise in keeping a folder tucked deep in my computer’s dustiest corner, labeled “Things My MC Friends Must Never Find”. But then one day you just figure, ah fuck it.
The Life Independent™ is one hell of a ride, and I love every minute of it…
