Rap isn't one of Canada's chief exports, but they do have a fair share of quality rappers: Saukrates, Mathematik, Kardinal Offishall, K-OS, Buck 65, and more recently Drake... who has been kind of taking over US radio, but is he getting airtime in Canada? the rest of the world?? I'm too lazy to check charts, and my radio don't pick up signals that far.

Drake-Between Us (feat. Slakah the Beatchild)

-Carryout

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cPzWDUU9Opo

------------> Weekend is f l e e t in g.

Really inspiring track by Toro y Moi.

"Talamak" is Tagalog for "chronic"; then there's the Urban Dictionary that tells us that it means "free loader of drugs".

-Carryout

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CPdWmpMK64o

Be Right Back...

-Carryout

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u-O6-Pvi27o

In the late 90's, I exchanged tapes with this kid in Reno, Nevada. I think I met him in an AOL chatroom for hip-hop or something. His nom de plum was Diatomaceous. He's probably the reason why I ever heard of people like Sixtoo, Living Legends, Scienz of Life, and Siah (... that is until I heard of Sandbox Automatic).

Tangent: Do you remember Sandbox Automatic, and how they used to write great descriptions for their new releases? I guess that's kind of the direction that blogs operate under now.

Back to the story: So this kid that goes by the name of Diatomaceous, sends me this tape that has this one particular song that blew my mind. It was by a rapper named Buck 65, and the track sounded like nothing I ever heard before. It was called "Wildlife".

As a product of a fairly conservative household, I listened to a lot of my first cd's and tapes with headphones. Regardless of that reason, I probably would have still listened to Buck 65 in headphones, because of some symbolic need for self-preservation or to keep myself untamed from compromising criticisms. To this day, I play this song for people, and they think its simply wack or weird. Oh well. It is called the Wildlife. And in a sense, we are our own elected council of nature conservation.

-Carryoutreassessment

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c_PuQm77gzw

I am a fan of Andre 3000 jumping in on someone else's song. Kelis had a lot of potential, and Wednesday is that day that either tips forward or backward. Hopefully its forward.

-SprintPCSVoicemailBox of "........"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YIwUxq0BMSE

So I did go downtown yesterday.
I get a $50 ticket for skateboarding, and my board taken away. Either
way, it was still a good day, echoing the same sentiments of Walt
Whitman's words that are engraved in the marble floor at Freedom Plaza:
"p l e a s a n t l y disappointed".

-Carryout*>

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jozEoF-q2YU

It's Sunday.
It's Nice Out.
I'm Going Downtown.
At Least I Think So.

-Carryout

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M-yBLPbw8_I

I just ate a cheesesteak with lettuce and tomato,
which means I might have broken a couple of rules in Philly.
But I'm not in Philly, and hypothetically. . .
I need my antioxidants to counteract the built up stresses from the week.
You got to pay to live free and radical.

-->Careboutmyhealthcosts

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=emhNVe2TOxs

Everyone talks about J.Dilla post-mortem.
Slum Village this and that (RIP everyone in that group in advance. no offense), Stones Throw (great art direction, okay music),
Getting only humble recognition for producing Tribe and Pharcyde greats...

Here's another song produced by J.Dilla, and it's a downtempo lounge song like a mixture of Esthero and somebody good on the boards. Cheesy lyrics, but great overall vibe. I'm a sucker for this kind of music.

-Carryout

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NZH3weviinI

So I send a text message to this girl I have a crush on.
After years of never having text messages, I am psyched.
The message I sent to her went something along the lines of:

"hey girl. i just got text messages. yay. hope everything is well."

Fast forward a couple of hours, and I receive a text message back that goes something like this:

"hey biotch. congrats. welcome to the 21st century."

Ouch. Oh well.

-Carriedout

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-DkslcOhytU

999 was yesterday. 9109 is today.
And tomorrow will be something unique as well hopefully.

-Carryout.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Ig-2SCSZSs

Can You Dig It?

Sun Ra Beamed To Earth

If you don't know who Sun Ra is and love jazz, get to know him. Imagine a large piano jazz musician from the 1940s and on into the 90s claiming he is from outer space brought here to earth to enlighten human beings. Wearing elaborate costumes and leading large bands in songs with names speaking of other galaxies, stars, war, and peace, he carved himself a piece of time. Asides from all that, he was an amazing musician who produced many, many albums and whose influence is unparalleled.

The Durham Arts Guild in Durham, NC is holding a unique show consisting of original Sun Ra LP covers, artwork and sketches for album covers, and some other interesting items. Some info on the show can be found HERE.