i was raised by wolves

clinton portis is my god

i have some bad luck these days. i missed a flight and had to pay $300 to cover it. i found a roach in my baggage somehow. i don't even smoke. the sound cut out during two of my shows and never quite returned. i cussed out a guy in the crowd in ottawa for telling me to get off stage and subsequently got in a bit of trouble with the establishment. but here we are, back in my room, let's breathe and take control of the situation:

The Roots - Game Theory
the new roots is the album of the year so far. i haven't liked a roots record since illadelph halflife. the tipping point was cool, but a little too sample-y at times. most of the newer stuff has been a little too neo-soul or has been pinned down by the constant quest for a hit song. this record has no such ambitions. even the single 'don't feel right' isn't very 'single-y'. i can't imagine this will be a commercially viable record, but it's on def jam and jay-z specifically wanted them to put out an art record and this is probably the best, uhh, conscious record in a decade. it is super produced, harkens back to the early hip hop gods and fucking knocks, i love it.

Basement Jaxx - Everybody
basement jaxx are my favorite producers of the last ten years, probably. i always expect huge things from them, as they have this dance shit down to a serious science. they layer more sounds more expertly than most out there. the new record is however quite disappointing, in that it doesn't go as big as kish kash and tries for the more subtle approach of remedy and fails. i have still however never heard anything like this in my whole life. the chops are vicious and the thing i love about jaxx is they make everything sound organic and bring in a real human touch with the vocal work. the changeups are all over and i'd be seriously shocked if this wasn't the next single.

Girl Talk - Smash Your Head
it's like the homie jason forrest if instead of disco samples, he exclusively used shit from the last 10 years. sometimes it's really irritating and a little forced and awkward, but in the case of this track, there are some really perfect ideas, like mashing together a thugged out southern verse over top of both lil' wayne's 'fireman' instrumental and nirvana's 'scentless apprentice' riff. really nice. this, however, will have as much longevity as a n.o.r.e promo single. we're talking less than a week, for sure.