Biking, Elections, JME Mic Controller.
So. A couple of weeks have past since I've had the opportunity to update this, in which not much has happened. Actually, since it's been a while, I'll revise that - a number of things have happened. After much struggle, I succeeded in building up a Surly Crosscheck at the wonderful Free Ride, a community DIY bike center that I need to start actually volunteering at. Said bike was built using a number of parts from my Bianchi, which while a fine bike, was just too big for me; so I now have a single speed cyclocross bike. I've been gradually accustoming myself to life without gears , which isn't actually as tough as you might think. This evening I managed to make it up the evil Negley Ave hill to Squirrel Hill without dropping dead, so I think I'm officially coming along. The one time I've ridden my geared bike since then, it was like riding a flying carpet, so I expect to be able to kick holes in brick walls by the end of the summer.
The election (e.g. the mayoral primary) wrapped up decently. The machine fellow won by a huge margin, of course, but our guy did pretty well for himself. He actually won at the poll where I was volunteering, and we got lots of thumbs up and shows of support by people who you'd never think would be supporting the progressive candidate. And, more importantly, he got his council seat by a huge margin, despite not being the endorsed Dem candidate. So that bodes well for the city; not everyone is an idiot.
Um, what else? It's really hot out. I've been really digging JME ever since his set as the main MC on a January Logan Sama Rinse FM. Not sure exactly what it is... He definitely seems to rehash lyrics more than most. Still, in Grime's tough and hyper-masculine world where despite it being the UK everyone claims to have guns and the number of murders mentioned by most crews exceeds the national crime rates, it's excellent to hear someone calling bullshit on the thug stuff. And, more importantly, not being relegated to "non-authentic" status along with Lady Sov and such. For christsakes, who would have a theme built around advocacy for wearing a seatbelt when in a motor vehicle, or mention that he doesn't do drugs? Manga is another MC that has grabbed my ear of late... despite being a fairly prominent Roll Deep member, he's got big nerd glasses and a weird spazzy flow.
That stuff just wouldn't work in the US. Maybe if they were white, and as such didn't really have the option of keeping it real... I've been talking to a recently returned friend about collaborating on some kind of electronic project, and he promises me that there is good backpacker hiphop. It's pretty hard to believe. The couple of times I've seen such things done in a non-ironic manner by fair-skinned caucasians of European decent, it's been real, real, REAL hard to take it seriously. Is this reverse racism on my part? Or a reasonable response from someone who knows that white bluesmen are not good, and as skeptical of equivalent arts being overrun by those whose heritage just doesn't mesh with the music? Regardless. somehow things on the other side of the pond seems to have eluded such icky prejudices, at least for now. As Bruza says, "I spit British / born and raised in Haversham (?) / therefore it's British".
The election (e.g. the mayoral primary) wrapped up decently. The machine fellow won by a huge margin, of course, but our guy did pretty well for himself. He actually won at the poll where I was volunteering, and we got lots of thumbs up and shows of support by people who you'd never think would be supporting the progressive candidate. And, more importantly, he got his council seat by a huge margin, despite not being the endorsed Dem candidate. So that bodes well for the city; not everyone is an idiot.
Um, what else? It's really hot out. I've been really digging JME ever since his set as the main MC on a January Logan Sama Rinse FM. Not sure exactly what it is... He definitely seems to rehash lyrics more than most. Still, in Grime's tough and hyper-masculine world where despite it being the UK everyone claims to have guns and the number of murders mentioned by most crews exceeds the national crime rates, it's excellent to hear someone calling bullshit on the thug stuff. And, more importantly, not being relegated to "non-authentic" status along with Lady Sov and such. For christsakes, who would have a theme built around advocacy for wearing a seatbelt when in a motor vehicle, or mention that he doesn't do drugs? Manga is another MC that has grabbed my ear of late... despite being a fairly prominent Roll Deep member, he's got big nerd glasses and a weird spazzy flow.
That stuff just wouldn't work in the US. Maybe if they were white, and as such didn't really have the option of keeping it real... I've been talking to a recently returned friend about collaborating on some kind of electronic project, and he promises me that there is good backpacker hiphop. It's pretty hard to believe. The couple of times I've seen such things done in a non-ironic manner by fair-skinned caucasians of European decent, it's been real, real, REAL hard to take it seriously. Is this reverse racism on my part? Or a reasonable response from someone who knows that white bluesmen are not good, and as skeptical of equivalent arts being overrun by those whose heritage just doesn't mesh with the music? Regardless. somehow things on the other side of the pond seems to have eluded such icky prejudices, at least for now. As Bruza says, "I spit British / born and raised in Haversham (?) / therefore it's British".
posted by dmg at 9:17 PM
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