Chaz Kangas Presents: Kid Presentable!

What is Circuit City, but the People?

Thu, 05 Mar 2009 02:17:49 -0500

All cities are mad: but the madness is gallant. All cities are beautiful: but the beauty is grim. ~ Christopher Morley, Where the Blue Begins

I have a CD in stores, just in time for people to not give a fuck about CD stores anymore. ~ Mitch Hedberg

In three more days Circuit City, once the second largest electronic retailer in the United States, will close its doors forever. The latest mega-conglomerate to collapse, it’s slow burial beneath six feet of unsold Hancock and The Dark Knight DVDs has been met with an almost ‘told-you-so’ indifference and bitter obscenities due to, at a time when the store hasn’t received any new product for a month and has its entire inventory marked to 80% off, Johnny McBargainBin is angry he can’t find any of today’s hottest hits. The “Everything Must Go” signs adorn the walls like funeral wreaths, as EuroJungleHouseTrance echos an ominously repetitive requiem.

It’s March, 2009. Every industry, save tent manufacturers and repo men, is struggling. With the entertainment industry continuing to have problems, this latest loss is almost eclipsed by the announcement last week that Virgin will be closing all of its stores by June and Best Buy, while not closing, will be shutting down almost two-hundred locations within the next month. It’s hard to believe that just nine years after the industry (as well as downloading) hit an absolute pinnacle, the game shows no real hope for any physical media being commercially available in two years.

As much as I love the 29 CDs and 4 DVDs that I got for a combined total of under $100.00 during this retail trail of tears, it deeply saddens me that, without hyperbole, the physical music business is truly coming to an end. It’s over. Done. Ghost like Swayze. Outie 5000. And it all went so fast, too. I remember the summer of 2000 when the Mall of America had 5 different flourishing music stores inside of its gigantic singular complex. When I returned two years ago, all that remained was an single FYE that had bought out the last Sam Goody in the state and having a “going out of business” sale. I felt a similar shock when I realized that since moving to New York City four years ago, 15 local music stores closed down. Come June, that number increases to 20 with Manhattan’s solely relying on FatBeats as its only non-electronics based music outlet. Even including the other guys we have J&R (who are probably not going anywhere as in 1971 they flatout bought the property for their location) and Best Buy (who are also doing-away with their music section but will be gone in two years anyway) and that’s it.

But instead of placing blame, I’d like to take a moment to reflect on some of the great things Circuit City did. When Tower Records, the last strictly-music chain (Tower Video was always a separate entity) closed its door in 2006, music fans with a taste for more than “today’s hottest hits” were forced to find a new source for our more obscure tastes. While it never came close to Tower’s cornucopia of regional-rap, Circuit City did stand out for it’s emphasis on 1) selection and 2) catalog titles. New York does have its hip-hop stops, but with the East Coast bias nobody will admit to, and even Minnesota’s own hesitance on getting it’s hands dirty with some of the filthier regions, Circuit City allowed a nationwide accessibility for everything from Eightball & MJG’s debut to Turf Talk and Lil Boosie mixtapes to every single project Cappadonna attached his name to.

They also were the only chain to reach out to the larger indie and overlooked major-label artists for nationwide promotions. The Clipse’s “Hell Hath No Fury” was given a ridiculously discounted price, drop taken as a hit to the store, it’s first week of release and moved the bulk of its units through there. It’s also the only store major OR mom-and-pop I know of that offered free t-shirts from the like of T.I., Scarface AND Tech N9ne if you purchased their albums the week of release.

And unlike Best Buy, “The City” (As it’s unfortunately titled pedestrian-friendly 2007 makeover redubbed it) kept its prices low, even after it had buried its competition. To its dying day, new releases were $11.99, recent hits were $12.99 and extended catalog titles were $9.88. Did this policy drop help or hurt it? Who knows, the bells have been tolling since the industry eliminate the maxi-single in 2001 and the dominos have been falling ever since.

So, what can be done now? I guess ride the wave back to the shore. It’s labor day weekend, and we have a long autumn ahead of us. All CDs/DVDs are 80% off and there’s some quality stuff you might have your last chance ever to get in there. You may never have another opportunity to get Tech N9ne, Project Pat, UGK and BG’s entire discography for under $50.00 combined. entire So g’head. Remember as a kid when you saw the Nickelodeon Toy-Run Sweepstakes? Now’s your only chance to live it.

To help you along the way, here’s five reccomendations you can get for under ten dollars combined:

Freeway - Free At Last

Scarface - Made

Z-RO - Crack

Devin the Dude - Waiting to Inhale

Killer Mike - I Pledge Alleigence to the Grind II

Can it Be It Was All So Shady Then?

Wed, 25 Feb 2009 02:24:55 -0500

“A lyricist without a clue / what year is this?”

This week marks ten years since the retail release of Eminem’s “The Slim Shady LP.” At a time when mainstream hip-hop was divided into the separate-but-equal territories of Shiny Suit Jiggy Millionaires and Coffee House Campfire Favorites, “Slim Shady” stood out as a depressing remorseless cavalcade of the grotesque that just happened to be incredibly catchy and well produced. It became the first album to be shipped in large amounts to major retailers such as Best Buy and Target in an explicit and clean version upon its debut. It also became one of the most influential rap records of the following decade.

Debuting at number 2 behind TLC, whose “Fan Mail” became the first time a major label artist since Pearl Jam released an album without a video or single to support it, it arrived to mixed reviews and eventually moved 5,000,000 units. It’s a feat in itself that this record even got released, let alone label support and a chance to become a hallmark of the genre. In a music climate where motherfuckers acted like they forgot about Dre, a battle-rapper from a region that didn’t sell who ran with artists who never got their albums released seemed like a longshot in itself. Not to mention the post-Vanilla Ice mindset that saw every white rapper in his wake attempt to obscure their whiteness in an effort to be taken seriously. Still, this was the pre-Viacom BET era when labels were still willing to take chances on larger regional artists whose unique style, seemingly beyond any frame of reference on a national level, translated into platinum records. If there was ever a time this would work, it was now.

The buzz Em had at this time caused as much apprehension as it did anticipation. While plenty of rap releases at the time namedropped sex, drugs, and violence, the subjects hadn’t really ventured into such self-reflexive territory. Em wasn’t a dealer, he was a user and in the least glamorous way possible. He murders his wife, loves his daughter, disregards the standards of the world around him and still loathes every minute of it. His reasoning is never touched upon, and the listener is left with the tragic portrait of a sociopath who is beyond any hope of remorse, rationality or ego. It connects to the worst aspects of all of us, and still finds a way to make us laugh.

While many reviews at the time wrote a lot of the content off as meaningless shock value that would age poorly (as the OJ/Kurt Cobain references from Em and his contemporaries did), what makes so much of it hold up is Em’s stoicism. While the beats and his delivery vary thoughout the record, the vocal tones seldom change, allowing the despair of Detroit poverty to seem as much of an everyday accepted reality as throwing obese women off of diving boards and tying a rope around a penis in order to swing from trees. A product of the Clinton-era, Em’s emotional disconnect makes songs like “97 Bonnie and Clyde” and “As the World Turns” more haunting now than their initial release.

While he claimed Detroit, his rap style was influenced more than 20 miles away by rappers from the Garden State. Em’s always claimed his favorite full-length of all time was Redman’s “Whut the Album,” and the tremendous contrast between his “Infinite” Nas/AZ impressions and being a naughty rotten rhymer can be linked directly to his affiliations with Pace Won, Young Zee and the Outsidaz who took him in and embraced him as a cross-country D12 transplant. The drug-riddled tales of pulling fat chicks and brutalizing anyone impeding on their lifestyle carried through his tours with Shabaam Sahdeeq through New York’s hardest battle circuits. This translated to an attention grabbing guest-appearance gauntlet comparable in the late-90s only to Canibus whose pedigree seemed far more likely to reach rap superstardom. Still, despite “Can-i-Bus’” failure, Interscope slated “The Slim Shady LP” for a first-quarter ‘99 release and premiered the “My Name Is” video in the Friday Night after-midnight hours of a then unhosted grandfathered block of video programming unceremoniously dubbed “Yo! MTV Raps.” Eventually it made its way into the After-Hours rotation, and people began to take notice.

Dre allowed Em to also take a deal of liberties with standard rap bylines. Several times Em builds both his storytelling arches and desolate descriptions far past the verse-chorus-verse 16-bar boundaries. Such uninterrupted flows worked both to paint Mr. Mathers as an incredible lyricist as well as beat the listener into an unrelenting submission, heightening the uneasiness until it’s time to move-on, often with a purposely anti-climactic final bar allowing no space for closure and the nightmare to continue.

Such a nightmare is, in retrospect, exactly what makes it such a radical departure for the genre. At a time when every member of every label had to spit a verse on every song within an 80 minute album, Eminem kept the focus solely on how the world looks through his eyes. Even the two guest appearances both appear as an antagonist and vessel for Shady’s continued desecration of everything around him. He’s the worst part of the Average Joe that nobody wants to talk about. Basically, he’s Skee-Lo without the dreams. While the drug-use was a red-flag to media watchdog types, the most depraved aspect of the album is how little their use seems to blame for the Slim Shady character’s behavior. Regardless the protagonist’s sobriety, the environment is just as cruel and reality remains a steady stream of rejections. Even the happy moments are plagued with so many ultimatums and circumstances that the inevitable tragic end is openly acknowledged and accepted. The writing is similar to Common’s “Resurrection” in a Sense that shows someone who didn’t think anything was going to come of them baring their soul, yet decided to as a last futile attempt to connect with the world around them. Em begins this record on a mission from God to piss the world off, and closes it still not giving a fuck. While he would forsake the unique world he created in favor of bringing his character into a 2000 American Pop Culture vacuum and offering a newly cynical approach to the world around him, “The Slim Shady LP” stands as a bold statement of late-90s alienated apathy and unacknowledged imagination.

“The Slim Shady LP” - Original EPK

Tonight, this gets blogged. 10 years.

Mon, 23 Feb 2009 20:33:16 -0500

Tonight, this gets blogged.

10 years.

Standing in the Shadows of Fallen Giants.

Tue, 17 Feb 2009 20:29:00 -0500

Since “The Message,” the subject of death has often interjected itself as the most polarizing but popular party guest in the Hip-Hop lexicon. Whether a cautionary mention, braggadocios write-off or absurd glorification, it exists as the point of reference that every artist and listener can relate to. If taking literally, as some of the genre’s most vocal critics love to do, the music contains a record of thousands upon thousands of homicides, genocides and suicides that most listeners accept as (gee whiz) as aspect of the art and aren’t particularly phased by it. But along with the nameless body counts, you have those who deaths remain focal points for very different reasons.

While rap had lost plenty of pioneers and artists throughout its first twenty-five years, a select few became almost canonized by their passing. Scott la Rock of Boogie Down Productions is often seen as the first of this phenomenon, and the mid-90s had the passings of 2Pac and Biggie that signaled a defining moment for the genre’s place within American culture. But even in the wake rappers dying at a pace currently only rivaled by professional wrestlers, February particularly stands out as the cruelest month of unfortunate losses. From J Dilla who succumbed to lupus as his popularity was peaking to Professor X who died shortly before a planned and eventually successful X-Clan reunion, the shortest month has often ended with the burning out of some of the genre’s brightest rising stars.

Last weekend marks a decade since the passing of Big L. One-time Children of the Corn member, L developed a large cult following in the late 90s from his charismatic punchlines and vivid storytelling. Songs like “Ebonics,” a simple concept executed to perfection, “No Endz No Skinz,” where L’s penchant for punchline-after-punchline songwriting provides jaw-dropping moments build upon each other as to not peak too quickly and draw the listener in further and “Put Em On” where L’s delivery compliments a series of perfectly constructed multiples to the point where the rhyme arch seems almost effortless as if any syllable would have been the first written garnered him the attention and respect from all rap audiences. While his death was the result of mistaken identity, his legacy begs the question of a misplaced one.

The same goes for Big Pun, whose passed almost exactly one year after L. One of the largest artists to touch the mic, Pun’s best remembered for striking the perfect balance of, to use terms of the time, “jiggy” and “lyricism” with songs like “Still Not a Player” and arguably the greatest two bars in the genre in “Twinz ‘98.” (“Dead in the middle of Little Italy / little did we know that we riddled some middle-men who didn’t do diddly,” and that was ONE TAKE) While both were mourned and are still memorialized by their contemporaries and those they’ve influenced, they’re often left off of “Greatest Rappers of All Time” lists despite having just as much recorded material as staple Biggie Smalls.

While many attribute this to label politics or Pun’s nationality, I feel the real difference is that Biggie got the chance to make “Ready to Die,” which will always be a go-to cornerstone of the genre. It’s the definitive testament to how great he was, and remains a realized vision of what he was capable of doing. He got the chance to make his masterpiece and although he was taken far too soon, his legacy isn’t as haunted by what-ifs.

Pun and, to an arguably greater extent, L never got the chance to make their masterpiece. Pun had all the talent, but his addiction to food and circle of enablers (leaving him, at one point, 900 lbs.) created an impossible filter of limitations that stopped him from really reaching his potential. While he still could murder a song he recorded in a booth laying on a mattress (“Leatherface”) and did indeed lose 100 lbs. while trying to live, he never got to make that flawless full-length in an era where legends were made by flawless full-lengths.

The same goes for L who, if the sessions that became “The Big Picture” are any indication, was right on the cusp of changing the rap world. He had the charisma, look, style, sound, and writing ability of a champion and was taken out incredibly unexpectedly. Had a full album of “Ebonics” been realized, rap would be in a much different place for at least the early part of the last decade.

Basically, B.I.G. came out the gate with something iconic and refined to the point perfection. As good as “Capital Punishment” and “Lifestylez of the Poor and Dangerouz” are, they came from artists who hadn’t quite peaked yet and, by the somewhat unfair comparison of what could have been, are the reason why they are often denied g.o.a.t. status.

So as another February draws to a close, and another tribute get made, at the end of the day it should be what these artists DID achieve, rather than what others remember them for, that should be celebrated. Will we ever get a Big L biopic? Or a Big Pun action figure? Probably not. Did they have a cutting-room floor full of acapellas allowing for a new generation of post-humos collaborations with artists who didn’t know who they were while they were alive? Thankfully, no. What they did leave were some of the greatest rap performances ever committed to wax, and that’s all an MC should ever hope for.

Shot-taking Caucazoid takes Shot at Fellow Shot-taking Caucazoid: Copywrite Disses Asher Roth

Wed, 11 Feb 2009 03:30:57 -0500

“Hey, did you hear that Copywrite dissed Asher Roth?” is what I would be saying if anybody really cared enough about either party to report it. Do either of these two have more than a dozen people in their fanbases who really knows who the other is?

For the curious, you can check out the unfortunatly titled “The Real Fake Shady (Asher to Ashes)” rightchere.

Sorry you had to hear that.

First of all, anyone else find the parenthetical title “Asher to Ashes” A LOT more clever than “The Real Fake Shady?” Or that it’s the most entertaining thing about the song? Anyone else find that, outside a similar nasal voice, Copy’s copycat allegation really has no merit? I mean if Copy was going to take shots at an obvious Em jack, why not attack Lee Harvey or Kain (The Neptunes’ and Bad Boy’s milkheads, respectfully) at a time when people would have been interested in a Copywrite dis and he was close enough to an audience that it could have generated some publicity and even a response record?

Reluctantly, I waited until the moderate hoopla peaked to give it a listen. On paper some of the disses worked (DMB) but I don’t think Copy delivers on this track at all. In fact, the only thing less convincing than his tough talk are his forced butthurt feelings regarding the status of caucazoids in rap. I mean if it’s THAT much of an issue, why is it the three charisma vacuums in his O-DOT posse that follow him around SOUND EXACTLY LIKE EMINEM THEMSELVES?

Hasn’t Copy learned what beefing, no matter how petty, leads to yet? I also can’t believe Copy hasn’t figured out that the niche market such a track would appeal to doesn’t buy records anyway. To be fair, I met dude one in 2005 the night before Camu (RIP) smashed him and we talked for all of five minutes. He seemed like a good guy, but I haven’t heard of anyone having anything positive to say about dealing with him past the six minute mark.

Besides, Copy should know that Asher’s drunk-college-party-steez could be opening doors for him. He could roll alongside him as that 28-year-old at all the frat parties who doesn’t know when it’s time to leave and every once in a while fucks a sophomore who’s looking to spite her ex-boyfriend!

OK, that’s a little generous. The man is 30 this year. And he’s beefing with someone whose breakthrough single is about being a college Freshman. Look, I still maintain that Copywrite is talented, but until he actually releases another album this decade, his supported on record are going to become more and more literal.

Ever wanted to hear E40 rap from the perspective of Carlos Santana?

Mon, 09 Feb 2009 16:26:08 -0500

Along side those SNL Lonely Island Boys? And have J-Zone on the beat with added guitar from Hot Sugar, the producer of my #1 smash hit “Bad Dogs Go To the Pound?”

You’re in luck!

http://www.cocaineblunts.com/blunts/?p=1925

Robo - Raw Like That

Tue, 03 Feb 2009 17:58:11 -0500

Robo - Raw Like That:

Nobs knows what’s up. Another great rap song I found on the internet.

I really wish...

Thu, 29 Jan 2009 15:59:33 -0500

…Music Choice had a channel that just played “Black Ice” by Goodie Mob on a loop 24/7.

Never thought I'd be tumbling a 1996 Kid Rock interview, but here you go...

Thu, 29 Jan 2009 04:56:54 -0500

Never thought I'd be tumbling a 1996 Kid Rock interview, but here you go...

You Know What Sucks About Song Lyrics?

Tue, 27 Jan 2009 14:01:00 -0500

People who desperately want to be a part of your life think you’re talking about them in your Facebook status.

FUNFACT: This is also what sucks about exgirlfriends, current girlfriends, and battle rappers.

Guess who wrote about me on...

Mon, 26 Jan 2009 18:09:29 -0500

Guess who wrote about me on tumblr!!!!?!?!?!?!?!!

bnddycl:

guess who’s on tumblr now!!!!!!!!~

peep it, then buy his cd HERE

Maybe this internet thing isn't a fad afterall...

Mon, 26 Jan 2009 18:08:41 -0500

Oh man, you would think that Facebook, MySpace and tacobell.com would cover all that it could possibly do, but NOPE!

INTERNET IS HERE TO STAY!

LONG LOST MAIN SOURCE TRACKS!

Mon, 26 Jan 2009 15:05:52 -0500

LONG LOST MAIN SOURCE TRACKS!:

This is EXACTLY how I wanted to start today.

"I used to be with it, but then they changed what it was. Now what I'm with isn't it, and what's it seems weird and scary to me.

Mon, 26 Jan 2009 03:17:07 -0500

It’ll happen to you!”

- Abraham J. Simpson

Let’s Get Ready to Tumble!

Mon, 26 Jan 2009 03:13:03 -0500

Let’s Get Ready to Tumble!

Chaz Kangas Presents: Kid Presentable!

What is Circuit City, but the People?

Can it Be It Was All So Shady Then?

Tonight, this gets blogged. 10 years.

Standing in the Shadows of Fallen Giants.

Shot-taking Caucazoid takes Shot at Fellow Shot-taking Caucazoid: Copywrite Disses Asher Roth

Ever wanted to hear E40 rap from the perspective of Carlos Santana?

Robo - Raw Like That

I really wish...

Never thought I'd be tumbling a 1996 Kid Rock interview, but here you go...

You Know What Sucks About Song Lyrics?

Guess who wrote about me on...

Maybe this internet thing isn't a fad afterall...

LONG LOST MAIN SOURCE TRACKS!

"I used to be with it, but then they changed what *it* was. Now what I'm with isn't *it*, and what's *it* seems weird and scary to me.

Let’s Get Ready to Tumble!

"I used to be with it, but then they changed what it was. Now what I'm with isn't it, and what's it seems weird and scary to me.