Back to Nature: Why I'm STILL a Naughty Fan.

Ingore the links. I know what I'm doing here, but this Blogger shit just doesn't wanna work that way.

It's obvious to anybody who hears it, but worth repeating: Treach is a wicked emcee. After 20 years of rhyming and a stab at action movies, he's still dropping unpolished rhymes that make your head spin.

"Au contrare, mon frere; this is all my hair/ I wouldn't cut it for the..." oh wait.

Didn't realize this, but Naughty By Nature has gone Indie via "Illtown Records." Shoulda known too, since they're just the sort of guys to want to keep the whole cheque (i.e. smart move). And when you carry the title of "icon" you can more or less get away with doing whatever.

Independence: "I got a chip on my shoulder that Bill Gates ain't make."

A lot of what's said on this new aural assault is simply a matured reiteration of that for which Naughty has always unflinchingly stood: The Hood Comes First. Hip Hop is the Voice. And I got a lotta love for anyone who helped me get these heavy rocks on my knuckles.

Don't be fooled by the rocks that I got/ I'll still drop a bomb on your whole block.

For those who don't remember, Naughty kicked off the New School of the 90s with the anthemic "OPP," followed up in 1993 with "Hip Hop Hooray." These are their best-known and weakest tracks. No kidding. In keeping with major-label tradition, the best songs were B-sides.

No more. The songs are still solid urban anthems, but now the best songs of the pile get their video and rotation; that's the new Naughty.

Some of the new tracks are produced in the same vein as the Naughty we know. "I Gotta Lotta" is braggadocio at its finest, with Treach driving a trashy shuffling beat like a platinum-plated Cadillac. "Flags" is a continuation of "Ghetto Bastard" and "Daddy Was a Street Corner," but from the perspective of a qualified OG - all grown up & with a broader perspective (i.e. "I" has become "We"). The chorus sums it all up: "You gotta cook beef or you don't eat/ and that's why we cry out loud."

The production has gone beyond the R&B-inspired head-nodders I remember. Some of these tracks (most notably "Get to Know Me Better" and "Hip Hop Honors") are 100% club bangers. They'd come across as generic if it weren't for the signature vocal stylings of Vinnie and Treach.

It's like New Jersey, but clean.

The only complaint I have about this drop is the obligatory slow-jam, "Hip Hop's Pain." In fairness, that's the track I always have trouble with on any album. A friend of mine once said "Duke, you don't have a slow-jam in you." And it's true. Got em all out of the way when I was young, mushy and stupid.

The Jeru-produced "Pain" is musically reminiscent of Biggie's "Juicy." Lyrically it's KRS-One meets Rap Superstar - a warning to the youngsters of the New-New School of the dangers of the music industry, and a call to action for purity and realness. In a phrase, "Keep It Real" is not just some bullshit people used to say... Okay, it is; but it started somewhere real, and can go back there too.

When "Keeping It Real" Goes... missing?

Over all, this new thing reminds me of why I'm a fan of these guys. As emcees they continue to grow and experiment, and never cease to improve their own style, while raising the bar for everybody else.

At the same time, Naughty has stuck to their roots. If the style and techniques have changed, the message has not; it is only that the perspective has matured. It's no more about being the top gangster or using O.E. as mouthwash. Now it's about Peace, Love, Unity & Respect.

P.L.U.R.

Okay, okay... The respect was always there for them that earned it. But peace is a new thing coming from Naughty. Something I wouldn't mind hearing more of.

What the Hell Happened Yesterday?

I hate politics as much as the next guy, but am drawn to it like a moth to a Konk. Sometimes you just gotta scream despite having no mouth.

Simple, elegant, discrete... OW! Goddamit!

Ignatieff is a politician for another age... one in which people read books and TV hasn't become a mainstream thing yet. Isaac was saying last night he's hoping Iggy abandons politics and goes back to writing books. Probably the best thing he can do right now.

There are Conservative voters who voted on the abortion issue, even though it's never going to be open for debate on the Hill again. Harper will NOT touch that with someone else's ten-foot poll (misspelling intended), so don't pretend he will. He might not believe in a woman's right to choose, but he's not prepared to risk his government on it. No career politician is.

I also believe that an unleashed autocrat can do a lot of good for his country in the short term through weakening democratic institutions, but at the long-term risk of throwing open a door for a psychopath to follow. That's an awkward and heavy way to put it, and I'm sorry for saying "psychopath." I just want to illustrate the fact that - whatever the intention - erosion of our democratic institutions (Parliament, for instance) is dangerous and stupid.

I'm also concerned that that Tar Sands will now become even more of a laissez faire, toxic, foreign-run mess; that billions of dollars will be wasted on super-prisons for criminals who don't apparently exist yet or short-range fighter jets that don't have engines (or the aircraft carriers that will allow them to operate effectively); that childless women, aboriginals and homosexuals will be treated as second-class citizens; that health care will go further down the toilet (not just availability, but with a focus on disease management instead of health).

I have no right to complain. I'm a straight white guy with limited disabilities and a bright future if I want it. And to be fair, these things would probably happen with or without a Conservative majority... except maybe the jets and the bit about women, natives and LGBT's. I'm a little over-saturated with exposure to "media," but I'm a smart guy who tries to keep it balanced with optimism, exercise and occasional silence.

Maybe not this calm, but you know... moderation and all that.

My main worry here is that we've just handed a blank cheque over to a guy who thinks that if you subscribe to a certain way of living and looking at the world, that entitles you to favorable fortunes; if you diverge from that way, God and the government will abandon you. This is the sort of thing that you hear from rich Christian fundamentalists - that wealth is a sign of God's favor, and that the poor somehow deserve it.

Kinda like this guy. Remember him?

It's only a minor intuition, but I often feel like Harper is getting us ready for assimilation into the USA... And whether the political landscape there is dominated by jackasses or elephants, I want no part of it. Canadian politics can be embarrassing enough without the disease of polarization that has infected America to its bone marrow. Harper has relied on the same kinds of divisive tactics and rhetoric - taking credit where it is NOT due, vilifying opponents with dehumanizing epithets, and then there's this...

This comes complete with the American-style political gesture of accusing one's enemy of the very thing one is doing oneself. In other words, if you're a dog, call your opponent a worse kind of dog.

Project much?

This government is bent on turning Canada into the USA. Or Michigan at least.

And that's my rant for the day.

Is this our political future? Say it ain't so.

Big Mouth.

Gonna be a short one today (That's what she said anyway).

Short and Blunt

Anybody ever tell you you've got a big mouth? Was it after you said something, or merely yawned? Did you take this as derisive, or as the compliment it should be?

Like a La-Z-Boy with Teeth.

When somebody tells you you have a big mouth, say "Thank you." As a rule, talkers are interesting people. Especially if they smoke.

I dunno. I never checked.

That's it for today. Should have something real for Wednesday. Til then, happy rambling.

How to Get Crackin

For those who don't know, I am more than just a reclusive wanker with a Blogspot account. I put together the beats for United in Flow Volume 1 and a few for Volume 2 (to be released this summer).

I've also got two self-produced albums (Go Time and Tip the Bar respectively).

As stated earlier, I've been putting off a 3rd for a couple years now for various reasons.

For one thing, I was unemployed while working on the first two, and that gives one a lot of time.

For another, I was working on United in Flow for a good chunk of last year - for the first few months without knowing it.

Finally, I've been working at minimum wage trying to make ends meet for a year. That's an endless excuse and a dead-end.

The path of excess leads to a faceplant.

So much for excuses. Time to move.

Good News Everyone. Been hitting the booth at Euphonic Sound Recording to end this cycle of procrastination. Like Rorshach, I've picked my face up, brushed it off and put it back on.

It might get hot.

You know what writer's block is, right? Ever since Gotta Move, lyrics have come slowly... Like, not at all. Did nothing but beats for almost a year.

Then all of a sudden it hit me: You wanna write, then sit the fuck down and write something. Anything. Blog post. News story. Open letter to Hu Jintao. Jot down some words that rhyme if you got nothing else. The songs will come out of that.

And they have.

It isn't like I don't have shit to say.

Don't let what happened to Deadpool happen to you.

Writing like a maniac too. Been to the studio a couple times in between job-searches (see my previous post for the reasons behind that).

And you know, it's funny what happens when you let go of any formulas to which you have held, whether deliberately or just out of habit. That's probably the hardest thing. I think we all have these mental marble statues of our perfect selves, and we need to smash the shit out of em before we can actually do the things for which we were born. Like, to DUST. Then brush em aside.

Right now I'm listening to the Next Big Thing. I don't know that yet. Matter of fact, it's only a dope beat right now. It has bones & muscle, heart and pulse. All it needs now is a voice.

And so off to work again.

Trying to find my place in the Canuck Pantheon. Not exactly a downhill walk.

See you in another present.