I’ve been yapping Pete’s ear off about this track of late, and I figured that I’d finally post it here. It may or may not say something about ISWHAT?!’s lead-emcee Napoleon that he doesn’t appear on my favorite track from the LP. But I’ll get around to commenting on dude soon enough (hint: he’s solid).
ISWHAT?! – “Writer’s Block” (Featuring Ill Poetic & Fatal Prose) (iTunes)
But here, you have one of those classic relaxing, end of LP tracks (See: ATCQ’s “God Lives Through” in Midnight Marauders).
Well, sort of.
The title of song is “Writer’s Block” which immediately brings to mind a distinct sort of anxiety unique to creative types; and Ill Poetic & Fatal Prose’s somewhat manic, slam-style verses add to the anxiety that is this song’s “Yin.” They do a good job using clever wordplay and conscious lyrics to glance with a critical eye toward street culture, and its influence on hip-hop culture.
To the ice-grillin thugs: “If you don’t like people, don’t come out in public… stay at home and get drunk.”
To the dope-heads: “You stay addicted to drugs, I’ll stay addicted to substance.”
To the street-dwellers: “If you can’t think outside the box, you can’t think outside your block.”
Clearly, the “Writer’s Block” to which they refer is not their own. They’re talking about hip-hop’s cookie-cutter, commerical-thug culture.
Meanwhile, the “Yang” to this track is my favorite part. You have laid back, jazz-style snares, high-hats, and cymbals (yes, the beat-boxing can get old on this album), a rhythmic piano melody, and a trumpet that is soft and repetitive in the background (the kind you’d hear punching in and out of a golden-era hip-hop beat).
It’s the sort of mismatch that, for better and/or worse, pervades this album–where it sounds like a band was playing on an open mic night and an emcee spontaneously takes the stage. In the case of “Writer’s Block” it sounds like a couple spoken word poets jumped on stage with that random jazz band. The mismatch works well here, and stands as one of the better replay-value tracks on the album for me.
Enjoy…
March 18, 2007 at 2:48 am |
[...] need achievement) to perpetuate a specific theme/model. I think you referred to it correctly as “cookie cutter.” My main problem is not that there are some lesser talented/versed/virtuoso artists getting record [...]
August 16, 2007 at 11:30 pm |
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