#ATOZCHALLENGE, Sunday Supplement 2: Nicki Minaj

On April 12, 2015March 31, 2015 By Luther M. SilerIn Music2 Comments

Artist: Nicki Minaj
Best Album: Pink Friday … Roman Reloaded
Best Song: Starships

Why I’m Writing About This Artist: Because N has N.W.A and M has Monie Love, and I can’t allow Nicki Minaj to get pushed out of this series of posts. Nicki Minaj doesn’t get nearly enough credit for being as talented as she is; throw in her complete lack of giving a fuck about what anyone thinks and her absolute dedication to (take your pick) either sex-positive raunch or pure filth (or maybe it’s both) and she’s simply someone who cannot be ignored. Roman Reloaded is a fascinating album on a political level before you even get to the music, guys; you really should give the whole thing a listen.

I’m expecting to catch some crap for declaring Starships her best song, but fuck it; it stuck with me because that was the song where I first realized how talented she was, and then I sought out the video and … well, we’ll just say the combination of green hair and pink bikini does things to me and leave it at that.

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#ATOZCHALLENGE, Day 7: Gift of Gab

On April 8, 2015March 31, 2015 By Luther M. SilerIn Music3 Comments

Artist: Gift of Gab
Best Album: The Craft
Best Song: The Ride of Your Life
This Letter Could Have Been About: George Clinton, Geto Boys, Guru, GZA

Why I’m Writing About This Artist: Pure goddamn talent, that’s why. This is another case where I’m using a solo artist as a stand-in for his group work; Gift of Gab is also the frontman for Blackalicious, and The Craft is technically a Blackalicious album. All of the artists I’ve mentioned so far have specialized in bombast in one way or another; Gift of Gab is all about flow, to the point where I used to use The Ride of Your Life in my language arts classes to teach poetry. I’d play the song and tell the kids to use their hands to show me what the song was doing, and use that to pivot into a discussion of meter and flow. Gift of Gab is laid-back smooth hiphop, not party music– and, to be honest, picking a best song was almost irrelevant for him because the guy specializes in albums. His songs are frequently kinda gibberish, too; the song below being a good example. Paying attention to the words isn’t the point with Gift of Gab; turn it up a bit, lay back, close your eyes, and just listen to the sound.

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#ATOZCHALLENGE, Sunday Supplement 1: The Beastie Boys

On April 5, 2015March 31, 2015 By Luther M. SilerIn Music2 Comments

Artist: The Beastie Boys
Best Album: To the 5 Boroughs
Best Song: Rhymin’ and Stealin’

Why I’m Writing About This Artist: The disadvantage of this A to Z format is that it limits you on popular letters. K was full as hell, so KRS-ONE had to go to B as Boogie Down Productions, which meant that the Beastie Boys got knocked out of contention to have a post, because they only start with Bs. Similarly, you’ll see in a bit that I run into trouble with the letters M and N and E.

This cannot stand.

The A to Z challenge lets you skip Sundays. Well, screw that! I’m a rebel, so I’m going to do my regular A to Z posts on the days those happen, and you’re also getting supplementary posts on Sundays for artists I’ve had to leave out. BECAUSE I CAN.

Also, the Beastie Boys are amazing and foundational and Licensed to Ill just might have been the first rap tape I ever bought (as opposed to heard; that would have been the Fat Boys or the Super Bowl Shuffle) and I cannot leave them out period.

That is all.

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