> Man, I don't know what the rest of u thought of the new Prince joint,
>but I find that it sux pretty hard, especially after I was looking so
>forward 2 it.
Seems like unless you're a hardcore Prince fan, it's hard to keep track of
his releases.
You have his new stuff, his "new" stuff (newly released, but recorded long
time ago) and the stuff WB still has a hold on. He's so horribly
inconsistent these days. One song would be a serious jam, the other could
be a limp turkey. I don't mean to slam on Prince (I don't care what he
calls himself these days, his name is *Prince*, damnit! :)), but he reminds
me of the big-name baseball player who's still on the team, has seen better
days years ago, has a lackluster batting average, but can pull off the
occasional home run. Sometimes.
But his biggest problem is that he just puts out *too* much material, it's
no longer "special" anymore. Before all this mess happened, we could talk
about his "Dirty Mind" era or his "1999" era or his "Purple Rain" or "Sign
O'The Times" era, but not anymore...
> Black Eyed Peas- I can definitely see what all the fuss is about; the
>Peas got a great sound and an obvious respect for other black musical
>genres. I was hesitant to buy the record at first cos' the hype seemed to
>say that they were just Roots/Pharcyde/Tribe wannabes, but after seeing them
>perform on Vibe, I decided to check 'em out for myself. Really happy 2 see
>that although I see where the comparisons come from, the Peas still manage 2
>sound like no one but themselves.
Right. Groups like Tribe and The Pharcyde have been established for a
while, so it's inevitable that you'd have newer artists come out that would
be influenced by them...the next generation if you will. The guys in the
Peas are still in their early 20s, so indeed they have those influences.
>"Tenement Yard" on song 2 is unbelievable! They got me singing "Too much
>watchy watchy watchy" all day long, which tells me that they're definitely
>doing something right.
Argh! that song drives me up the wall! I usually skip that one!
In actuality, these guys really got their shit together in making the
album. They've played the L.A. club scene with a set of around a dozen
tunes, then when they went in the studio, they recorded about 50 songs...my
friend who played flute on one of the tracks told me a lot of the tunes
were just written in the studio (the ones with the sampled hooks, mostly).
These guys have a natural knack for freestyle so it's not too hard for them
to create material.
For my money, the Peas definitely deserve props for
>taking hip-hop/rap/funk to the next level by doing their own thang rather
>than trying to cash in on a sure thing (read: all top 40 nonsense).
>Unfortunately, I ain't takin' a chance at buying a ticket to the
>Smokin'Grooves Tour;
I think they'll just be the opening act (and play to a crowd of about 30
people). Give it time, then catch them at their own show. People go nuts,
everything from chanting to jumping up and down to slam dancing ("Head
Bobs" live is more hard-edged and we all slam to that one...heheh).
Elson
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:. e l s o n t r i n i d a d
:. elson@westworld.com :. www.westworld.com/~elson
:. los angeles, california, usa