#BUT. bigger artists or ones w super hard to find cds | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

popopretty · 5 years

Text

Piko’s Spring Tour “Pathfinder” report

There are just so many things I want to write down for this live but I realized I would not be able to put everything into one post and I have also forgot some parts of it so please bear with my scattered memories.

I went to almost all the lives in this tour except for the one in Sendai. So it includes Nagoya, Osaka, Yokohama, Fukuoka and Tokyo. It is an amazing feeling following an artist on tour, like waking up in a different city everyday, meeting the fans you don’t usually meet but still being able to say “See you tmr”. For two weeks I was filled with Piko feels and I couldn’t really remember doing anything else.

KEEP READING - There is A LOT more under the cut lol

For most of the venues, there were like 150-200 people each. The final was in a bigger venue so there were more than that. There are girls, guys, couples, families, Japanese, foreigners, all kinds of people you can think of. And everyone is super nice and friendly. I still feel super awkward with my Japanese but people’s warmness there just calmed me a lot.

For the tour goods, there are T-shirts, mirrors, towels, mobile charger, tote bag and stuff from previous lives. If you buy one album, you will get a ticket to high touch with Piko at the end of the live. Plus there are chekis and if u are lucky enough you can get one with Piko’s sign.

My favorite thing from the goods this time must be the totebag. Its cheap and convenient since you can use it both as a handbag and a shoulder bag. The mobile battery is a new thing, which is a bit expensive imo but it works pretty well and has a super cute design so everything is forgiven xD I also bought 2 more CDs to get a high touch with him. I will write about it in more details at the later part.

Piko wears a different outfit every live. For the one in Nagoya, he wears the black outfit as in Black Swan cover, then in Osaka it was the white one as in Realizing. He is back to the black one in Yokohama and in Fukuoka is another white shirt with black gilet. He went with the Black Swan outfit for MOST of the final live lol. If you read my last posts, you have already known what else he was wearing xD

As for the setlist. The setlist is the same for all the small lives. Only the final is different so I’m gonna list out all the songs that he has sung in all the lives, not in the exact order.

- Realizing - This is the opening song for all lives.

- Loki - He sang this in all the small lives but not in the final.

- Ghost Rule

- HERO

- Tengaku - He sang this in the final only

- Re:Act

- Rolling Merry Go Round - this is also in the final only. I was so surprised when he sang it ;; this is also my first time listening to the song live ;;

- Dappo Rock

- Kachoufuei - This is one of my favourite songs in the new album

- Sakurane - This is also final exclusive! In one part he messed up the lyrics and he was super embarrassed so he laughed and asked the audiences to sing for him lol

- Black Swan - the most beautiful song live from the new album. Tbh I didn’t like the recording that much cuz the instruments are a bit too loud for me. But in the live it sounds much better and Piko’s voice just resonates around the live house and it is absolutely beautiful.

- Kokoronashi Acoustic - This is in the final only. He sang this song many times before but this time is totally different. He sang the first verse with no instruments at all and the acoustic guitar sound only came in in the second verse.

- Kasa - He sang it with a backup vocal of himself since it is a self-duet and many parts are overlapped. He sang the guy’s part with female backup in the first verse and then switched to the girl’s part with male backup for the second verse. In some lives, the fans even sang along with the backup parts which was really cute xDDD

After this part there is usually a small MC parts where Piko can talk and take a short rest before entering a non-stop session of about 4-5 rockish songs xD

- Murabito A - I love the song and the message in it. Whenever he gets to the “kamisama” I really just reached my hands towards him as if he is my God lol

- Futaiten Path Finder

- Lost One no Goukoku - I cant believe Piko covered it just recently! He sounds absolutely amazing in it. He didnt try to sing the original key (though I think he totally can). He chose a lower tone which showed off his beautiful, manly middle range and I love it so much. In the entry part of the song, he asked everyone to raise hand and shout out at the end of each drum session. He also asked the girls and the guys to do it separately. Even though there were only a few guys, they were really energetic, even when Piko asked them to say Yeah but in a girly cutesy voice. (They did it anyway lol!)

- Haikei Doppelganger - Of course this cannot be missed! This is like the most heated song in the live. Everyone was just headbanging like crazy. He just sounds absolutely powerful and precise for such a hard song that I lost my mind every time I heard it.

- Make Our Days - this is like a sequel to Make My Days. He mentioned that this is a song where he wants everyone to become one by doing the same moves. It is pretty similar to Make My Days and I dont know how to explain it in writing lol. So lets wait until some videos of it actually come out xDD He also asked all the band members to do that with different style every time and it was so funny (I will write more about it but probably in a separate post)

- Piscium - Last song before the encore. He spoke about the meaning of it, about how he started his career as a net artist, how it was in the beginning where they didnt really know what to do but try different things and see how it works. And it has been a long way with both joys and sadness and now he realizes that its not him walking alone, and that everything he does has the people who support him being a part of it. Thats why its not about him anymore but about all of us. Thats why Make My Day becomes Make Our Days, and Piscium lyrics also say “You made me. I made you”.

It was a beautiful moment…

Before the funny part kicked in xDDD

If you follow Piko, you might have already known that he has a corner called Pikone jinsei soudan in his namahousou, in which he puts on an okama personality and gives people advices on their problems xDD The live this time also has a session like that.

- Tokyo Shinobizaki

The first song of the encore is Tokyo Shinobizaki, which is an ending he sang for a short anime recently. It is a slow, jazzy and mature song, the type you may find in some old bars I guess. In the small lives, Piko would wear his live tour T-shirt, walk out and sing it with a stand mic. And he kept swaying and sliding his hands up and down the stand mic xD He has such lovely hands that my eyes kept fixating on them through out the song @@ In the final, when the music started playing, everyone was waiting for Piko to come out as usual, but it was just a band playing a super long intro. The live house for the final has a smaller stage on the right side that looks like a small balcony. And when the intro finally ended, Piko walked out from there, wearing a long red dress (the same one he wore in luz’s event not too long ago). He looked so pretty in that dress that everyone could have mistaken him as a girl without knowing him before >w<.

After he sang Tokyo shinobizaki, the jinsei soudan session started. Every live he would pick 2 letters from the fans and read it out loud (in okama voice) and then gave advices to them. All the band members also helped him out (and they also spoke in funny voices lol). There are many interesting questions but I think I will write about them in a separate post. I will just mention a few moments here. In the Osaka live, one fan was asking about how to deal with a rebellious son. And Piko was like “hmm I dont know. Should I ask my own parents??” and then he looked to the back of the stage, raised his hand and shouted out “Mama~~”. Turned out his mom was also there and all the lights of the stage started pointing to her xDD she then said that she actually didnt have to deal with Piko’s rebellious phase cuz he was a super good kid and didnt have that phase at all xDD In the final, Piko randomly picked a guy from the audience and asked him if he has any questions. The guy didnt have any, but he said that he brought his daughter to the live to see Piko. And Piko, still wearing that dress, rephrases his words like “Oh, so papa likes me, and papa wants his daughter to like me too so he brought her here?” He then asked to see the daughter. We all expected like a little grown up girl but turned out she was a super tiny cute little girl xDDD and Piko was like “ok lets get married” lol

- Yoshiwara Lament: Normally Pikone only sang Tokyo Shinobizaki but in the final she sang this one too xDD

After the Pikone part, Piko got into the backstage and changed again.

When he was inside the big screen started playing and they played a part of Black Swan MV which is coming soon.

And they also announced on the screen a two-man live with Pokota on November 4th this year!

2nd encore:

- Thanatos

- Hypnos: As some of you might know, Thanatos is the god of death in Greek mythology. Hypnos is his twin brother. Hypnos is a god of sleep. Piko said that the tour is like a dream. And when this tour end, everyone will wake up from their dream, go back to their everyday life. Thanatos is his first CD ever released, but Hypnos is the future. He will keep moving forward and come back, being a stronger and newer Piko. He asked for a title call and wrapped up the live with that song.

After the live came the high touch. I did it 3 times. One time was in the first live in Nagoya. I didnt buy the CDs but one friend of mine was kind enough go give me one of her tickets. The high touch is super short. You touch hand with him and say one sentence or two and thats it. I kept thinking what to say in Nagoya and ended up telling him “I LOVE YOU” in English lol. Second time was in Fukuoka. I did’t plan to buy a CD that day but that was 3rd day of the 3-day-in-a-row lives that Piko performed in (Tour in Yokohama, Chan-gero Sonic, tour in Fukuoka). He sounded a little bit tired at the beginning in Fukuoka but he tried his best and still sounded wonderful till the end of the live. So I bought a CD to high touch and tell him how well he has done. I also asked him not to try too hard. And all the time he just gently smiled back and said Thank you. The fragrance left from his hands still linger on mine even after I left ;;

Another interesting event did happen to me and my friends in the final. After the live I went for dinner with a few Pikoots and on our way to the station, we were supposed to pass by the livehouse again. A taxi was running from behind us so we decided to stop and walked to the side to let it pass. Then that taxi stopped in front of the livehouse and turned out it was Piko’s taxi. So we saw him getting in the taxi so we waved at him and said good job. Of course we all freaked out after that, like not believing what just happened. It was a miracle, really xD

So that’s the end of my tour dream. I tried to keep this report short but you can see how long it has become. I feel like its still not half enough to write down everything I want to write but I hope it helps you understand how wonderful a live it was. There were a lot of cameramen during the final so I am secretly hoping there will be a DVD!

#piko #live tour #live report #pathfinder

23 notes · View notes

beatdisc · 5 years

Photo

TWO WEEKS TODAY until Record Store Day 2019!

Everyday until RSD we plan to give ya'll updates about what will be happening at Beatdisc Records on April 13th. We have our biggest party planned, so stay tuned for all our exciting news!

#BeatdiscRSD update 1;

Below you will find our list of ordered exclusive titles, broken down into the 3 lists (AUS, USA & UK).

PLEASE NOTE: We are not guaranteed all these titles and some titles we may get cut down to only one copy and others we may never get. We won't know exact titles until a few days before RSD, so please bare with us.

All titles are sold on a first come first served basis and we cannot hold any titles - sorry. If you see something that's missing, get in touch ASAP and we may be able to squeeze something in.

AUS LIST TITLES Bob Evans - Suburban Songbook [LP] Broderick Smith – Suitcase [LP] Jebediah - Of Someday Shambles [2LP] Johnny Diesel & The Injectors - Johnny Diesel & The Injectors [LP] Mother & Son - Mother & Son [LP] The Amity Affliction – Youngbloods [LP] The Birthday Party - Mutiny/Bad Seed [2LP] The Hard Ons - Harder & Harder [7”] The Loved Ones - Magic Box [LP] The Mint Chicks - Screens [LP] The Reels - The Reels [LP] US LIST TITLES Ace Frehley - Spaceman [LP] Adrenalin O.D. - Let's BBQ [LP] Alien Weaponry - Tu [LP+7''] Anderson .Paak - Bubblin' [7''] Andrew Oldham Orchestra, The - The Rolling Stones Songbook [LP] Angelo Badalamenti, David Lynch - Twin Peaks: Season Two Music And More [2LP] Aretha Franklin - The Atlantic Singles 1967 [5x7'' Boxset] AxCx (Anal Cunt) - Picnic Of Love [LP] B-52's, The - Mesopotamia [LP] Bad Religion - My Sanity [7''] Basement - Be Here Now [7''] Benjamin Gibbard - Me And Magdalena / The Concept [7''] Bill Hicks - Revelations: Variations [2LP] Billy Joel - Live At Carnegie Hall 1977 [2LP] Bingo Hand Job (R.E.M. w/ Bragg, Hitchcock & Holsapple) - Live At The Borderline 1991 [2LP] Bob Dylan - Blood On The Tracks: Original New York Test Pressing [LP] Bone Thugs-N-Harmony - E. 1999 Eternal [2LP] Broken Social Scene - Let's Try The After Vol. 1 & 2 [LP] Buari - Buari [LP] Buffalo Tom - Buffalo Tom (30th Anniversary) [LP] Canned Heat - Remember Woodstock [LP] Captain Beefheart and His Magic Band - Trout Mask Replica [2LP] Charlatans, The - Us And Us Only [LP] Chris Robinson Brotherhood - Dice Game And Let It Fall [10'' Chuck Mosley - Joe Haze Session #2 [7''] Courtney Barnett - Everybody Here Hates You [12''] Craig Mack & The Notorious B.I.G. - B.I.G. Mack (Original Sampler) [LP+Cassette] Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young - 4 Way Street (Expanded Edition) [3LP] Culture - The Nighthawk Recordings [LP] Curren$y, Freddie Gibbs and The Alchemist - Fetti [LP] Czarface - Double Dose Of Danger [LP] David Bowie - Pin Ups (2015 Remastered Version) [LP] David Bowie - The World Of David Bowie (Compilation) [LP] David Bowie / Marlene Dietrich - Revolutionary Song / Just A Gigolo [7''] Death Grips - Steroids (Crouching Tiger Hidden Gabber Megamix) [LP] Def Leppard - The Story So Far, Vol. 2 / B Sides [2LP] Desmond Dekker & The Aces - Pretty Africa [LP] Devo - This Is The DEVO Box [6LP] Doors, The - London Fog [10''] Dr. Dog - Live 2 [LP] Dr. Dre - Nuthin' But A ''G'' Thang [12''] Duran Duran - As The Lights Go Down (Live) [2LP] Ed O.G. & Da Bulldogs - Life Of A Kid In The Ghetto [LP] Elton John - Live From Moscow [2LP] Elvis Costello & The Imposters - Purse EP [LP] Elvis Presley - Live At The International Hotel, Las Vegas, NV August 23, 1969 [2LP] Eric Clapton - One More Car One More Rider [3LP] Fatlip - The Loneliest Punk [LP] Flaming Lips, The - King's Mouth: Music And Songs [LP] Fleetwood Mac - The Alternate Fleetwood Mac [LP] Frank Black - Frank Black [LP] Frank Black - Teenager Of The Year [2LP] Frank Zappa - The Guitar World According To Frank Zappa [LP] Gorillaz - The Fall [LP] Grateful Dead - The Warfield, San Francisco, CA 10/9/80 [2LP] Green Day - Woodstock 1994 Live [LP] Green Jelly - Cereal Killer Soundtrack [LP] Green River - Live At The Tropicana 1984 [LP] Greta Van Fleet - From The Fires [LP] Griot Galaxy - Kins [LP] Hawkwind - The 1999 Party: Live At The Chicago Auditorium 21st March, 1974 [2LP] Herbie Hancock - Dedication [LP] High On Fire - Bat Salad [LP] Hockey Dad - Dreamin' [LP] Idles - Meat / Meta [EP] Iggy Pop - Hippodrome - Paris 77 [2LP] Iggy Pop - The Villagers b/w Pain & Suffering [7''] Insurgence DC - Broken In The Theater Of The Absurd [LP] James Brown - Sho Is Funky Down Here [LP] Janis Joplin - Woodstock Sunday August 17, 1969 [2LP] Jeff Buckley - In Transition [LP] Jeff Tweedy - WARMER [LP] Jethro Tull - North Sea Oil [10''] Joe Strummer - The Rockfield Studio Tracks [12''] John Cage Meets Sun Ra - John Cage Meets Sun Ra: The Complete Film [7''+DVD] John Lennon - Imagine: The Raw Studio Mixes [2LP] Julien Baker - Red Door / Conversation Piece [7''] Kooks, The - Live At The Moth Club [LP] Kool Keith - Complicated Trip [12''] Kristin Hersh - Crooked [LP] L7 - Burn Baby [7''] Lemonheads, The - Can't Forget / Wild Child [7''] Lightnin' Hopkins - Strums the Blues [LP] Lou Reed - Ecstasy [2LP] Madonna - La Isla Bonita: Super Mix [LP] Madonna - True Blue (Super Club Mix) [LP] Mark Lanegan Band - Stitch It Up [7''] Mark Ronson - Nothing Breaks Like A Heart [12''] Mastodon - Stairway To Nick John [10''] Matthew Sweet - Pleasure Island, Live [LP] Menzingers, The - No Penance b/w Cemetery's Garden [7''] Midnight Oil - Pleasure Island, Live [LP] Mikey, Leo, Donny, Raph - Pizza Power Single [7''] Mission Of Burma - Peking Spring [LP] Mo-dettes, The The Story So Far [LP] Monty Python - Monty Python's Life Of Brian [LP] Morrissey - Lover-To-Be [7''] Moses Sumney - Black In Deep Red, 2014 [12''] Motorhead - Overkill / Bomber [2x7''] Motorhead - Rockaway Beach [7''] Mumford & Sons - Delta Acoustic Sessions | Live From Electric Lady [10''] My Chemical Romance - The Black Parade Is Dead! [2LP] Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds - Wait & Return [LP] Ol' Dirty Bastard - Intoxicated [LP] Olafur Arnalds - Re:member + String Quartets [LP+7''] Otis Redding w/Booker T. & The M.G.'s + The Mar-Keys - Just Do It One More Time! Live At The Monterey Pop Festival [LP] Parliaments, The - Baby I Owe You Something Good [LP] Pearl Jam - Live At Easy Street [LP] Pelican - Midnight & Mesaline [7''] Peter Gabriel - Rated PG [LP] Peter Howell & John Ferdinando - Ithaca, Agincourt And Other Psych-Folk Fairy Tales [2LP+CD] Pink Floyd - A Saucerful Of Secrets (Mono) [LP] Police, The - Message In A Bottle [2x7''] Prince - His Majesty's Pop Life / The Purple Mix Club [2LP] Prince (The Artist Formerly Known As Prince) - The VERSACE Experience: Prelude 2 Gold [Cassette] Queen - Bohemian Rhapsody (Soundtrack) [2LP] Queen - Bohemian Rhapsody / I'm In Love With My Car [7''] Ramones, The - Live At The Palladium, New York, NY (12/31/79) [2LP] Robert Johnson - Kind Hearted Woman Blues / Terraplane Blues [10''] Robert Plant - Fate Of Nations [LP] Robyn - Body Talk [2LP] Rolling Stones, The - Big Hits (High Tide And Green Grass) (UK) [LP] Rolling Stones, The - She’s A Rainbow / Live At U Arena, Paris / 25.10.17 [10''] Rolling Stones, The - Through The Past, Darkly (Big Hits Vol. 2) (UK) [LP] Roxy Music - Roxy Music - Remixed [2LP] Rush - Hemispheres [LP Picture Disc] RZA - Birth Of A Prince [2LP] Salvation Army, The - Live From Torrance And Beyond [LP] Santigold - I Don't Want: The Gold Fire Sessions [LP] Serj Tankian - Harakiri [LP] Sherman Brothers, The - Simply Sherman: Disney Hits From The Sherman Brothers [LP] Shocking Blue - Single Collection (A's & B's), Part 2 [2LP] Sigur Ros - Lunar Halo 22° [LP] Sigur Ros - Variations In Darkness [LP] Sly & The Family Stone - Woodstock Sunday August 17, 1969 [2LP] Soccer Mommy - For Young Hearts [LP] Stargaze & Greg Saunier - Instruments (A Track By Track Re-Composition of Fugazi's 'In On The Killtaker') [LP] Steve Earle - El Coyote / Don't Let The Sunshine Fool You [7''] Sublime - Nugs: Best Of The Box [LP] Sugar Hill Records - Sugar Hill Records: The 12'' D.J. Boxset [6x12'' Boxset] SUNN O))) - Life Metal [2LP] Tangerine Dream - Le Parc [2LP] Tangerine Dream - Machu Picchu [LP] Ten In The Swear Jar (Xiu Xiu) - Fort Awesome: Complete Recordings [2LP] Teyana Taylor - Gonna Love Me / WTP (Remixes) [12''] Thrice - Deeper Wells [LP] Todd Rundgren - The Complete U.S. Bearsville & Warner Bros. Singles [4LP] Too $hort - The Pimp Tape [2LP] Townes Van Zandt - The Best Of Townes Van Zandt [2LP] U2 - The Europa [LP] Used, The - The Used Live From Maida Vale [10''] Van Morrison - Astral Weeks Alternative [10''] Various Artists - Boy Meets Girl: Classic Stax Duets [2LP] Various Artists - Brazil Classics 30th Anniversary Box Set [3LP] Various Artists - Coneheads (Soundtrack) [LP] Various Artists - Folk And Pop Sounds Of Sumatra Vol. 2 [2LP] Various Artists - Ghost World (Soundtrack) [2LP] Various Artists - I Am Sam (Soundtrack) [LP Various Artists - Lost In Translation (Soundtrack) [LP] Various Artists - Malcom X (Soundtrack) [LP] Various Artists - Mickey Mouse Disco [LP] Various Artists - New Jack City (Soundtrack) [LP] Various Artists - Office Space (Soundtrack) [LP] Various Artists - Poppies: Assorted Finery From The First Psychedelic Age [LP] Various Artists - Rockabye Baby! Lullaby Renditions Of Weezer [LP] Various Artists - South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut (Soundtrack) [2LP] Various Artists - Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse (Soundtrack) [LP] Various Artists - Stax Does The Beatles [2LP] Various Artists - The Crow (Soundtrack) [2LP] Various Artists - Vitamin String Quartet: VSQ Performs Bjork [2LP] Various Artists - Where The Action Is! Los Angeles Nuggets Highlights [2LP] Various Artists - Woodstock 3 Days Of Peace Music (Mono PA Version) [3LP] Violent Femmes - Hallowed Ground [LP] Weezer - Dusty Gems: The B-Sides [LP] Weezer - Weezer (Teal Album) [LP] Wes Montgomery - Back On Indiana Avenue: The Carroll DeCamp Recordings [2LP] Wipers, The - Alien Boy [7'' EP] Wonder Years, The - The Wonder Years Live From Maida Vale [10''] X-Ray Spex - I Am A Cliche [2LP] Yes - Yes [LP] Zero 7 - Home (Alternative Mix) / Somersault (Danger Mouse Remix ft. MF Doom) [10''] UK LIST TITLES Dexys Midnight Runners - At The BBC 1982 [2LP] Fall, The Medicine For The Masses - The Rough Trade Singles [4x7" Boxset] Ginger Wildheart - Maggie [12"] Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five - The Message [2LP] JJ Cale - Stay Around EP [7"] Mighty Boosh - The Complete Radio Series [3LP] Parcels - Tieduprightnow / Tape EP [7"'] Ronnie Lane & The Band Slim Chance - At The BBC [2LP] Thin Lizzy - Black Rose [2LP] Various Artists - The Freakbeat Scene [2LP] Various Artists - The Mod Scene [2LP] Various Artists - The Northern Soul Scene [2LP] Various Artists - The Psychedelic Scene [2LP] Various Artists - The R&B Scene [2LP] Venom - Manitou [7" picture disc] Yazoo - Reconnected: Live [2LP] CANCELLATIONS Dio - Last In Line (Live) [LP] Stray Cats - 40 [12''] Sigur Ros - Variations In Darkness [LP] Sigur Ros - Lunar Halo 22° [LP]

#RSDaus #RSD2019 #BeatdiscRSD

Record Store Day Australia

STAY TUNED HERE > Record Store Day 2019 at Beatdisc Records

#beatdiscRSD #RSDaus #RSD2019

3 notes · View notes

freshdotdaily · 5 years

Photo

I wrote this blog post in 2012 but tumblr deleted it. It was called sumn like, “My main critique w/ Talib Kweli” I wasn't allowed to listen to rap or any secular music growing up. My mom did me a grave disservice in that regard. So appropriately when I came into age I began sneaking all the music I could. I liked hip-hop and wanted as much of it as possible. The first record that I got that informally changed everything for me was Arrested Development's "Arrested Development 3 years 5 months 2 days". Probably because A) It was non-violent hip-hop I could RELATE to & B) After being raised by a Puerto Rican mother I had little to no real Knowledge of Cultural self.The next albums that followed after I devoured that album were Fugees "The Score" and Busta Rhymes "When Disaster Strikes" it'd be a little while before I was able to get my hands on any new cd after those two, so I had those 3 albums for a good year or two in heavy rotation along w/ Future Flavors on Hot 97 to keep me current. I was writing my raps pretty regularly around this time and I'd graduated from performing gospel raps at my churches Youth Night to nervously performing at little local open mic spoken word poetry nights w/ my friend Jason.The next album I got my hands on was "Mos Def & Talib Kweli are BlackStar".

That album changed EVERYTHING for me. As far as I was concerned I never needed another rap album. This was the penultimate affirmation of all the things I'd come to feel were true about myself and hip-hop and my culture. Mos was the Charismatic emcee who was forever on beat and in pocket w/ his flow and Talib was the well-read, technical lyricist. I immediate began trying to become an amalgam of them both in one emcee since I felt they so aptly represented what I felt. Reflection Eternal's "Train of Thought" album dropped and blew my head clean off my shoulders. The beats, man. Kweli was at his apex w/ that album. Raps + beats + Brooklyn being well represented. Oh, and let us not forget the Ecko advertisements. I wore Ecko exclusively for about a year and change. I mean footwear to underwear at one point. Talk about artists being brands and marketing alignment & etc. I bought Triple 5 Soul because that's apparently what Mos Def wore, right? I bought & read Ntozake Shange's "For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow Is Enuf" because Kweli made a reference to it. I read Toni Morrison's "The Bluest Eye" because Kweli made a reference to it. I mean, this is what hip-hop, good hip-hop anyway is supposed to do, right? Spark discussion, open minds, create thought and growth, etc. I felt like I was a part of that MOVEMENT. Rawkus. The Okayplayer board. The Spitkicker site. SoulQuarians. I had all the albums from everybody. Probably TMI, but I lost my virginity in 1999, while Pharoahe Monche's "The Light" was playing in the background for some reason. smh. For crying out loud, Black Star's "Respiration" is the top song in my top five favorite songs of all time.

It gets deep, nigga. (c) Kendrick Lamar

As my writing progressed and evolved and I found my own voice eventually through trial and error, Mos Def's "Black on Both Sides" dropped. While "Train of Thought" was still my favorite of the two albums, Mos's charisma eclipsed Kweli and he became my favorite of the two emcees. I judge rappers work against their own previous work instead of their peers, because that's fair to do artistically. So I'd never pit Mos & Kwelis work against each other because that's like arguing about which is more delicious of a fruit, apples or oranges? Two different fruits altogether, bruh. Also, at this point, I'd moved out my moms house, put out my 1st album, discovered early Eminem and Canibus and had a blossoming cd collection. Not to mention my attention was being held by a burgeoning Kanye.When Kweli's solo project "Quality" dropped, it hit me kinda like "meh". Gone was the signature Hi-Tek sound. I mean, Tek had joints on there but it wasn't the same. Dj Quick? Dj Quick is a mothafuckin' legend, sure. But his relevance at the time? Nah. Especially to a n00b EAST COAST hip-hopper as myself, it was baffling. The general consensus was Kweli used his first truly solo debut to attempt a move toward a more mainstream sound. It received some mainstream attention thanks to the West-produced single "Get By" which peaked at #77 on the Billboard Hot 100. That was Kweli's lifesaver. That album would've drowned otherwise. I did like the Kweli/Kanye connection that seemed mutually beneficial for both of them. It seemed to be going well even got him a Hov shout out on "The Black Album", in which Jay-Z rapped: "If skills sold, truth be told/I'd probably be, lyrically, Talib Kweli". Then the Strugglesome "The Beautiful Struggle" album dropped and I wanted to like it, but it too, hit me like "meh". The Neptunes, Just Blaze and Kanye couldn't save that album. The album failed to cross over into the mainstream and suffered a critical backlash. For example, Britt Robson of The Washington Post said: "Struggle" was a "frequently awkward, too-obvious bid to exploit the commercial buzz Jay-Z created." Mos was trying his hand at rock music w/ Black Jack Johnson and dropped "The New Danger" to my disappointment. By this point I'd bought Common's "Like Water For Chocolate" and it made him instantly my new favorite emcee. I went and bought "Resurrection" and "One day it'll all make sense" in the same day and consumed those albums daily.In listening, I noticed Kweli's aging. His attempts to remain relevant by looking around him and seeing what was popular and trying to compete. I was willing to overlook his stuffing a thousand syllables into a bar and over usage of the word "like" in every rap song w/ semi-obscure literary references (that I dug, actually). I was willing to overlook the preachy tone his raps somewhat took. I was still BUYING Kweli's music. Brooklyn. over. everything, my nigga. I downloaded '"Liberation" and wasn't mad at that at all. Kweli and Madlib? Dope. I stopped there. There was too much disappointment for me to continue. I wished he'd maintained his aesthetic. Emcees like Kweli and Fat Joe will always look around and try to emulate to maintain relevance. I'm sure there's more money and more opportunity in it, but you lose that core fanbase for the possibility of a bigger, newer fanbase who's not familiar with your older work and doesn't love you the same as a fan. Whereas an artist like Ghostface or DOOM will continue to do what they do in their lane and gain cult followings. Mos learned this the hard way. It wasn't until "The Ecstatic" (and stepping the live show up by giving people what they came to see) that heads began fucking w/ him again.Eardrum? Nope. Finally, a new Reflection Eternal album? With post G-Unit Hi-Tek? It was a little too late. I bought it & reluctantly handed my money over. I'd lost my will to be be a Kweli fan. Gutter Rainbows? Nope. Idle Warship? Hell no.

Did Kweli become wack? nah, he's still nice. I feel like it's the same problem Nas had with putting out 2 great albums out the gate and then trying to maintain relevance in a changing musical environment where the consumers are getting younger and the music is warping to accommodate. It took Nas about 10 albums to figure out how to get BACK to his original formula.I ask myself often if my critiques on Kweli came about because I rap and hold him in my influences. You know how you get older and realize your parents weren't the geniuses you thought them to be as a child? Once I figured out my stride and perfected how I wanted to rap and write, I think I began flaw finding. Flaw finding is both my nature as a virgo and my right as a consumer & fan. The power to critique constructively is also my right as a fellow artist. The biggest iniquities were the syllable cramming at the expense of flowing on-beat to get a point out as well as beat choices. But overall, I wanted that vibe back. I wanted that hi-Tek, Geology and Shawn J. Period vibe back from when I found myself as a young man and emcee. In 2013 Kweli is dropping "Prisoner of Conscious" a title derived from Talib's constant labeling as a "conscious rapper" and based on Nigerian reggae artist Majek Fashek's album "Prisoner of Conscience." I plan on purchasing it via an experiment. I'm gonna download all the albums of his I missed and see if there's been any hints or glimmers of what I've been missing that could lead up to this being his "Life is Good" album. Based on that, hopefully I can "experience dedication" and "move something", before it's "too late" for him to "get by".-F.Daily

It’s 2019 and I think Kweli is super important to raps annals and history. Albeit his hubris and righteous stances especially on social media mixed w/ distasteful personal stories I’ve heard + how he handled ReS’s music issues have rubbed me all the wrong way. I still think there’s really some slivers of relevancy for Kweli in the current hip-hop climate. I think he’s in tune with the culture and good for hip-hop and an important voice in socio-political justice for the advancement of people of color. Ionno how good the music is for me personally anymore, but I’ll always have Reflection Eternal.

content sourced from Talib Kweli's wiki page

2 notes · View notes