guru, etc. (was: acid-jazz/hollywood rec.)

Gibo (gibo@ripco.com)
Sat, 19 Aug 1995 22:34:10 -0500 (CDT)


> > "Hey look at Me! I'm Loungin' with Donald Byrd! He's sitting next to me
> > playing Trumpet. I'm Loungin'!"
> > Somebody tell me that this album insulted their intelligence, please! please!
>
> I hate to say this, but there are alot of people out there
> buying albums by the truckload, but what they really ought
> to do is buy some brain food....like a falafel....
> (style counts for nothing when you eat food...it's the flava!
> guru may look tasty, but one ya bite in it's bland....)
>
too true...I would say Jazzmatazz was notable more for its promise than
for - well - delivering anything. that being said, I can't really listen
to people dissing Gang Starr. they were/are one of the best 80s rap
groups, and DJ Premier is still coming out with a lot of the best music
in rap today (I'd put him on a par with Dre at least - maybe higher
because he isn't full of shit).

back to Guru, though...Guru isn't making acid jazz. evaluate him on the
terms of acid jazz and he falls way flat. evaluate him on the terms of
rap and he's in there changing the terms of the genre - and thank god,
because rap has been pretty fucking boring since people started imitating
Dr. Dre. (not to make a point of being anti-Dre, I actually like Dre,
but why the hell do we need 16,000 versions of him?)

however, I realize this isn't a very strong argument. either the music
is good or it isn't. and what it comes down to is this - Jazzmatazz was
good but not spectacular. it got more attention than it deserved because
it wasn't coming from an unknown, but from a successful rapper.

> acid jazz= big bucks= too much hype
>
> y'all out there that are independent/DIY's-
> more power to ya....start a revolution on this here 'net!
>
I think this is the more interesting part of the post, and I hope it
isn't ignored. this is entirely possible. I was thinking of uploading a
bunch of my beats to my home page, just to see what people would do with
them if I put them up for free like that (I already have a sample of a
noisy/housey song up). the main thing record companies have,
which gives them power with artists, is the ability to distribute their
music all over the world, and to promote the music.

anybody with internet access, a home page, and a little creativity has
this same ability, tho on a much smaller scale. you can upload samples
and offer tapes via cheap mail order. perfectly legal, cheap and
potentially international distribution. could completely circumvent the
record industry.

I know I'm rambling, but what do y'all make of this? anybody know of a
site where this model is already in effect? btw, a gratuitous plug - I'm
experimenting with my own home page as a way of doing this, so check it
out every so often. thx.

giles bowkett - gibo@ripco.com
"May the four winds blow you safely home"
Writing and music samples available
at http://pages.ripco.com/~gibo/