Base God -Cook, Chef, Knife

This will definitely be the most awkward posting to date and maybe EVER that you will get from me. It's awkward because it deals with extreme whackness (whackness in the name of "positivity") that I would normally may not waste my time and developing arthritis to write about, but me and my inner passion for sociology, the human psyche, and Hip Hop commands that I attempt to understand what is going on in the Bay and this cat Lil B The Base God.

I knew who he was without knowing who he was when I first started hearing the buzz about him if that makes any sense. Late night You Tube or WorldStar video cruising brought me to him getting sucker punched by another young guy while doing an interview, which by the way was some sucker shit. I chalked it up to a Young Berg situation and forgot about the guy. I recently heard about him re-enacting a Kanye scene when receiving an award a little while ago and thought "I don't even know who Lil B is". The radio DJ's knew only a little bit more than me because they vaguely recalled him being in the group The Pack that made the Hyphy flavored song "Vans". At the time, I remembered the song a bit but not in much detail. The next mention of Lil B was when I was reading the XXL Freshman Class Issue and he was on the cover. I read the short piece and wondered (1) Who in the hell is this guy and (2) What in the hell is this cat doing that I’ve missed?

The first thing I did was call my 18 year old cousin who is in her freshman year in college, and made me sit down and watch every Soldier Boy and “Crank That” video there was, and there were at least a dozen of them. This was when he was killing the internet before the big breakout. She had no answer for me so I took to the internet. The first video that came up reminded me exactly of who the guy was. It was the sucker punched cat! I’m not really focused on that because isht happens and you move on. I focused on the music he was making. The tittles of some of the songs were “I’m Miley Cirus”, "Ellen Degenerous" and “Wonton Soup” which sounded interesting enough and he’s affiliated with Soulja Boy so curiosity got the best of me to take a listen. A lot of times random names as song titles go over well because there are generally creative minds behind them. I pressed play and didn’t know what to think. It was almost the most god awful thing that I’ve ever heard. The sound quality was horrible, the mix down was nonexistent, which I can deal with (Check the February archives to see the Actrite mixtape). The beat was aiight, but the lyrics were horrendous! I listened to about two more songs, but was not catching on to what was going on.

There was something that I did catch on to, and that was a style that was very reminiscent of the Bay where personality and style is the name of the game, a language that was unique to say the least that uses words like “based” and “cook” heavily in his obvious weed and whatever else induced rambling freestyles, self made videos, and a cult that follows his every move and completely understands everything that he’s saying and doing. If you’ve ever sat with a few 5 Percenters while they “build”, then you can imagine what the comment board was like on You Tube. From my description of the music, you probably won’t understand why these videos have anywhere from 60,000 to 1.6 million views. There are at least three of them that are past 1.5 million looks. Just like his homeboy Soldier Boy, the young guy killed the internet but still the same, the music that I heard was horrible.

This is where I enter sociology, the human psyche, and tie it in to Hip Hop. Jim Jones, not the Harlem-based Dipset affiliate, but the original cult leader Jim Jones was based out of Frisco. Jones had a way of captivating people and coaxing them in to following him all the way until they drank that cyanide laced Kool-Aid in that crazy mass suicide. If you know anything about the Northern California and the Bay and Hip Hop, you know that they live in their own world and are satisfied with it and proud of it. They have their own market where independents have always done extremely well. If you know this, you also know that they root hard for the home team. They have legends with cult followings. I had a homeboy who went back and forth from Oakland back in the day and put us on to M.C. Pooh, Dangerous Dame, and Mac Dre (The King of Hyphy) when he was really doing serious dirt and I thought it was for wax. Later I got Hip to E40 and the Click, Mac Mall, Coughnut and the IMP, Brotha Lynch Hung, RBL Posse, and my dude Dre Dog (The New Jim Jones). The thing that made these cats special is that they were and had characters and those characters built the solid following. This is what I thought when I was trying to find out why people like this isht. He followed the classic Bay Area approach to success. Then I thought about an old school veteran that I still listen to from time to time and that’s Kool Keith. Kool Keith starts with the Ultramagnetic MC’s in the mid 80’s but has had a solo career that has lasted as long as any “industry” veteran because his characters like Dr. Octagon and Black Elvis have a cut following that keeps him touring and a recording deal on an independent label. He’s completely random with song titles and formats much like new schoolers The Cool Kids. Sometimes, not fitting the format is what people want and flock to. Dre Dog openly professed his love for cocaine, did a cool backstroke in a pool of sins, hustling and the occasional robbery and such. The guy had a song called “Smoke Dope and Rap” where he jacked the beat in “Juice” where Q was looking for Bishop and went way to the left. It was pure entertainment.

Even after playing the role of the social scientist, I still hadn’t found out exactly what it was that made people flock to Lil B, so I did a Google search and found a website dedicated to him. It explained that he is only half serious on most of these the songs (and there are about 700 more to come), which could be a cop out for a lack of talent, but I read on. Apparently, his thing is to be “Base(d)” which is being totally free and clear minded when making songs so that whatever is on the mind at that time comes out and he is pure. It’s all about free consciousness, non-judgment, and having fun. To me, it sounds like the hippies have come back to Frisco and they have a huge stash of California’s finest! It talked about positivity and good vibes. That’s when I was like, “I get it, but I don’t really get it”. Why do the songs have to sound the way that they do in order to send that message out? Still yet, I took my reading and went back to You Tube to see if I missed something before I started blasting the young fella which, I usually don’t do because I’m one to let someone express their creative ideas – until they begin to stab my ears.

I listened to a couple of more songs and then I ran across a freestyle where my man was normal with the flow and was kinda nice. I scrunched my face and scratched my head and repeated it to make sure that I wasn’t buggin’. The very next video was much of the same as the last where the guy is spitting for real which threw me completely in a loop. The first thing that I said to myself out loud was “Why doesn’t this cat spit like this all of the time?” With that, I’d answered my own question. The website noted that he might be poking fun at the industry via an anti-establishment movement that he’s in the forefront of. It’s supposed to be far to the left and attract attention, and if you’re mind is free, then you will roll with it. This could be taken as genius, or again and excuse for whackness.

Honestly, I’m not exactly sure what to think because on one hand, there was some good mixed with some garbage. However, if the claims of being Base(d) is true, then it’s genius and it's wildly successful because my other young cousin in Dallas was at a Lil B concert this past Saturday and again, he is on the cover of XXL which is not official credibility to all, but it is a national magazine that could have chosen a thousand other young guys to be a part of The Freshman Class. Just like when everybody made a huge fuss about how Hip Hop Soulja Boy was not, my thoughts were young people are having fun like the grumpy older people are saying that they used to have. Now the older, so called rich rappers are beefing and shooting at each other. So I say, I probably won’t be downloading “Swag to the 6” but, I have to respect somebody who has the balls to simply freestyle and release it as a mixtape or album and really just do them. Also, we have to remember that there was a time when EVERYBODY outside of the culture thought that Hip Hop was garbage so, you may not like it and a lot of you won’t, but at least try to understand it.

As always, TELLSOMEBODY and hit me at www.Facebook.com/Marcus.Obrien2 or at www.Twitter.com/TheMarcusObrien

Death by the Manager

The night before last, I was invited to a watch an up and coming artist perform at a local lounge. His manager and I have mutual friends so I went to support her, see what her artist was about, and see what kind of networking I could do. The show was cool, but this is not really the story.

I’m not sure how many of you go to the lounges with the open mic/ poetry nights with the incense burning, Erykah Badu/Jill Scott spin offs that my Atlanta crew affectionately call the “Towelheads, because of the super Afro-centric head wraps, and the brothers that are the greatest at putting a thrift store outfit together, keep some organic body oils and only drink Guinness and Red Stripe. I can’t tell you how many nights I spent in those joints. My homeboy spent at least three nights a week in different spots like that while on the hunt for his big break. I call him the hardest working man not necessarily in show business. These are the places that the havens and nesting spots for tight circles of starving and struggling artist to hone their craft and hopefully make a big enough name for themselves to go on to the big leagues. The circles are real tight and sometimes getting on the list and having the MC stick to the list can make you want to forego the “love” in the place and get downright animalistic.

Over time, the “El Natural” brothers and sisters have shared some of the space with the educated and sophisticated starving artists. There is one thing that hasn’t changed though and that is the arrogance and the “I’m on the rise, so look for me at the top” attitude that these artists have. It’s really interesting how a weekly performance at the Apache Lounge converts to a 90 date European tour. Most people there are in the same position and the others are there simply to enjoy the show. This whole mindset is probably what kills the career of some of these artists before they get started.

In this case, it was the manager of the artists that may do them in. There was a band playing at this lounge; some young funky little cats that had this funk/rock type of groove. While they were playing, I thought about a friend of mine that’s a Hip Hop producer and was looking for some guys to come in and play some live bass and lead guitar on couple of songs. As they were leaving, I stopped one of the cats to ask him about “hiring” them for a studio session. Hiring is the key word here. He said to talk to his manager which is the business smart and respectable thing to do. I stopped his “manager” and asked about hiring them for a studio session. She asked me if I had a studio, which was not the topic of discussion but, I responded with the details of what my friend needed. She asked me if I had a business card and I stated not at this time but I have a couple of email addresses and a BBM that I can provide. She said that she had her business cards in the car and she would bring them in for me. Now immediately, I took this as the big blow off but she did come back. She gave the bartender big glossy photos of the band and something else. I figured that she was handling business so I waited and then I noticed that she was skating past me on the sly. This is what reminded me of that attitude that I was so familiar with from up and coming artists only this time it was from the manager.

The manager is supposed to have the best interest of the artists in mind and I suppose that being “hired” for a studio session is not in the best interest of the artist. Being hired means that you will be receiving money for services rendered; in this case playing some songs that brings immediate and possible future revenue to the artists, as well as expand their exposure by having their names posted on a piece of work in a different musical genre. Maybe she assumed because I didn’t have a business card on me that it made me less legitimate and that is understandable, but what you do is take the information that is provided or provide your information as you said that you would and then have a conversation to make an informed decision about furthering the relationship. This was a move that wasn’t very business savvy in my opinion but I hope these guys do well because I like what they have going on and their manager gets the Gas Face for offering something and then reneging. This is truly what you would call “Death by the Manager”.

As always, TELL SOMEBODY! Hit me at www.facebook.com/Marcus.Obrien2 or www.Twitter.com/TheMarcusObrien

Stalley ft. Rashad "SLAPP"

No words except for this is my new isht!

Heavyweight Title

The warning shots have been fired and the stage is being set to witness one of the BEST Hip Hop battles since Nas and Jay-Z (which in my seemingly unpopular opinion Jay won) with the possibility of a tag team match which I’ll get to later. What do you think about Jay-Z vs. Lil’ Wayne? I think I need to keep my internet game up and keep Kay Slay on my XM.

So I thought Jay might have been taking a shot at Wayne on him and Kanye’s H.A.M. with the “…really, you got baby (possibly Baby/Birdman) money, you ain’t even got my lady money” and yes, it seems that was absolutely the case. It was confirmed when I heard the interview with Wayne being asked about it and he simply stated “I can’t even box with the god about that…but I will use it to my advantage.” There’s two ways to use it to his advantage; be vocal about Jay-Z mentioning him or finding a way to use it for retaliatory purposes which I think is what will happen. We have to remember that Wayne wanted to and nearly signed with Jay until Baby backed the money truck up and they put that Young Money thing in place. Shortly after that Wayne was a little sore at Jay-Z and there were a couple of words but nothing major. Jay recognized him as being one of the best in the game. Not that Jay-Z has the say so on whom official, but it is a highly respected nod.

What we have to realize that good Hip Hop music often comes from competition, not conflict, but competition. I don’t see this as getting to the level of one of the infamous and frivolous beefs we often hear about, but it will be serious competition. What we also have to realize is that for years Jay-Z has been considered the heavyweight champ by most for years and for the past few years there have been considerable amounts of arguments that state Wayne is the young champ and in some circles THE CHAMP. It’s inevitable that this has to happen. It is interesting that Jay-Z starts hitting the body bag first. Lately, he may make a quick reference to something and let us put it together but this he openly threw a jab and said “it eat if you can”.

Wayne is the competition and has been on fire non stop for a few years and has a extremely heavy following in New York and the Tri State area. Jay has to do something to keep the title, hence, “Watch the Throne”. Now this may sound like one of those crazy conspiracy theories that I often mock but the timing is right and Drake may have unknowingly or wittingly set this up. Jay-Z and Kanye’s album, “Watch the Throne” is supposed to be released within the month if it hasn’t been delayed again. The obvious is that Wayne appears to be next in line for the “throne” if you will and is the biggest competition, so on a song like H.A.M., Jay should have and had to address it if he plans to stay in that spot for a while. But, a few weeks back Drake poked and made a joke about “hearing about a couple of guys making an album together” and something in the nature of the idea may have come from somewhere else implying that him and Wayne may have been in the works on the same thing. Of course he said it jokingly, but that is just enough to let the competition begin. If Wayne and Drake put out an album together, I hope it wouldn’t be on some battle isht because Wayne would be all by his lonesome on that. Drake is nice but there’s not enough raw beast in him to go a few rounds with those Jay-Z, Kanye, and Lil’ Wayne; however, I am looking forward to hearing a response from Wayne soon and seeing how this plays out for the next few months. This is what Hip Hoppers live for! This may take it back to 40oz of Crazy Horse and Billy Dee (Colt 45).

As Always, TELLSOMEBODY and follow me on Twitter @TheMarcusObrien and friend me on Facebook at www.Facebook.com/Marcus02