In 2001, Yeah Yeah Yeahs released a 13-minute self-titled EP with a punk song on it called “Art Star.” In between choruses of guttural howls and cutesy doo doo doo’s, a 22-year-old Karen Orzolek talk-sang in a voice that is now as recognizable as her outfits, “I’ve been working on a piece that speaks of sex and desperation… I got a dealer in Tokyo, I got a rep in Paris, I got an agent in Rome; Shit, I got a gallery in New York!” Though at the time this was in all likelihood a facetious mockery of her peers at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts, Yeah Yeah Yeahs now have business connections across the globe and it’d be hard to find two nouns to better describe Orzolek’s singing voice. Hell, she’s been asked to be the cover model for Playboy—not that she took it. The band has released three critically, and publically, acclaimed albums in the past decade and have recorded songs like “Maps,” that most sentient fans of 21st century rock would at the very least recognize at its opening guitar tremolo. Despite what adds up to be enormous pressure to ‘sell-out,’ for lack of a better word, Yeah Yeah Yeahs have chosen to maintain the freedom of expression that they owe themselves. Mosquito, the band’s fourth full-length is no exception. The last track on the turn-of-the-century EP is a delightfully messy garage interpolation of “Crimson and Clover,” which features Karen crooning, “It’s the year to be hated.” For the trio that remains in tact twelve years later, 2013 is the year to be loved.
If you are trying to understand youth culture in a given region over the last three decades, the local rap groups are an informative place to start. Hip-hop groups, particularly the iconic ones, become uniquely defined by the locales that they hail from. Whether intentionally or not, these rappers soak up their cultural surroundings like a sponge and then splatter them back out, offering a glimpse into the “scene” of a certain time and place. Souls of Mischief, N.W.A.,Wu-Tang Clan – these groups were emblematic not only for their music but because they distilled the disparate cultural elements around them into something cohesive. While they may not belong in the category of icons, Odd Future is a no less potent representation of the area that they spring from. To put it simply, they are a rap manifestation of a generation of skaters from Southern California that are obnoxious but also magnetic because they are funny, sometimes witty, and always doing stupid shit. I grew up around this. I saw it almost everyday. And so listening to Wolf, the third album from Tyler, The Creator, feels a lot like going back to my high school. It’s exciting, interesting, a little annoying, and it elicits a strong desire to get baked.
Early last January, Justin Timberlake teased his return to pop music on a one-minute video that instantly went viral. Shot in black and white for full dramatic flair, the video shows Timberlake making his way into a recording studio while in voice-over he wrestles with the question everyone’s been asking during his seven-year sabbatical: “So are you just done with music?” His reply:
[Music] means more to me than to anybody else in the world. Look, I’ve only done two albums in ten years. That’s the way I really look at it. What does the next decade mean for me? I’m the one who sits and is obsessive about it before you even get to hear it. As close as I get to it, I don’t know that I can physically torture myself that much year in and year out and expect it to fulfill me the way that it does and the way that it is right now. I don’t want to put anything out that I feel like is something I…I…I don’t love. You just don’t get that every day. You have to wait for it.
What a jumbled and oddly defensive response to a question he’s surely answered countless times in private on film sets, at fashion shows, and on putting greens. The video ends with JT putting on headphones and speaking two words into a microphone: I’m ready. The implied question for the rest of humanity is: Are you? Finally! Some bravado from the guy who once sang of his tremendous allure with a rare, perfectly worded lyric: “Is it really cocky if you know that it’s true?”
Last year, when Esperanza Spalding won a surprise Grammy for Best New Artist, many had not yet heard of this unique jazz artist who combines an ethereal voice with superb bass playing. Count me among the former Spalding neophytes, but one look at her and a quick listen was all I needed to become a fan.
Just 26 when she won the Grammy, Spalding has just released her fourth studio album, Radio Music Society. In addition to the innovative music, 11 of the 12 songs have accompanying short films shot in a variety of locations including Barcelona, New York City and Portland, Oregon. All of the films are available to those who purchase Radio Music Society digitally or buy the deluxe version of the DVD available at the iTunes store.
If there was one thing we could learn from the industry, it’s that success is a bitch. A big ass, overweight bitch that will eat you out of the house and home that she built you. We see artists blow up like party favors and disappear like point guards at Memphis on a regular basis. It’s no longer surprising for a rapper bouncing his feet against that silly suede couch, sitting in between Julissa and Terrence (106& Park) promoting their new album, and a year later be working full time at the post office licking stamps. Most artists just aren’t built for that type of pressure. However, Our main man Drake rose to the occasion, and showed some sac on this second album.
Maybe not officially, but So Far Gone was served and digested as Drake’s debut album. It was how we got to know Drake and most certainly the rubric of comparison for his later work. Easily one of the best bodies of music in the last ten years, it was followed up by a, safely played, Thank me Later. It’s easy to go platinum when you have the biggest buzz since Curtis in ‘03 and put out a compilation album with Hip Hop’s ’92 Dream Team. Although an economic success, generating record sales of platinum status and yielding hyper profitable tours across the globe, for those who do this music shit, who live it and breath it, TML was not the self-proclaimed classic that Drake said it was. It was just another album that you got out of your system in a few months. It lacked the timeless adhesive used to assemble So Far Gone. October’s Very Own rushed through that album like 2 grams on the tour bus. Months after the album was released, Drake acknowledged this himself, “Thank Me Later was a rushed album, I didn’t get to take the time that I wanted to on that record, I rushed a lot of the songs and sonically, I didn’t get to sit with the record, it was like once it was done, it was like its done.” Drake said in a sit down with 1Xtra’s DJ Semtex. Time, isn’t something you can’t fake. You either Take Care, or you don’t.
One thing we pride ourselves on with music is being able to introduce you to musicians to pay close attention. I grab my crotch and say we’ve introduced you to artist like Theophilus London, Mike Posner and Kid Cudi. I can put the gloves on and pull our the analytics to prove it. So the next artist that we’re putting you onto that will be serious name to know is iFFY. Coming out of East Harlem, iFFY makes it a priority for you to believe and feel each of his words as it blares through your speakers or headphones. As a new member of this sorta “feel-good” music coming out, he manages to tailor a sound that he can claim his own.
iFFY’s love for music began with his brother’s nineties rock collection, decorated by the likes of Nirvana and the Red Hot Chili Peppers. It wasn’t until moving from his birthplace of Miami to New York City as an 11 year-old that he was introduced to hip hop, when a classmate lent him the Bad Boy compilation album, “No Way Out.” Almost overnight, he became an instant hip hop head, delving into the music of Cam’ron, Eminem, Jay-Z, Nas and Rakim. As a teen, he started writing and brought his talents to the ring, battle rapping and developing a reputation for poignant punch lines and clever wordplay.
Now as iFFY begins to wholeheartedly pursue a career in music. The influences of rap gods, combined with his early love for rock and punk, are helping him develop a distinguished sound that brands him as one of a kind. His debut mixtape “Songs of Love & Madness” displays his versatility and limitless range. Whether he is spitting the rawness of “Feelin’ iFFY” or singing the upbeat yet somber tune of “Cast Away,” iFFY melodically captivates ears.
With more projects in the works, he will continue to offer listeners his heart in the form of music. In the process, he plans to further polish his sound and keep testing the boundaries of creative freedom.
I will easily conclude that iFFY is on ours list of Face to Watch in 2011.
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In partnership with the Enough Project, veteran taste-maker and former KCRW Music Director, Nic Harcourt, has enlisted the help of friends like: Bat For Lashes, Imaad Wasif, Konono No 1, Damien Rice, Amadou & Mariam, Norah Jones, Mos Def and more to donate songs to the Raise Hope For Congo compilation. The Raise Hope For Congo project aims to protect and empower Congolese women who are the subject of unspeakable abuse as a result of the high demand for the country’s conflict minerals used in cell phones and computers in the west. Listen to Mos Def’s contribution, “Priority (A Capella)” and go support the cause, take action now.
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I met Shyvonne back in 2007 and have watched her pursuit of happiness unfold in front her eyes. Needless to say that I’ve kept my eye on her progress and watched as she left the corporate world to something that she was much more happier doing; singing. As I listen to her music, it reminds me that her personal style is a diverse as her music. Experimenting with a mesh of genres to form her own, Rock & Soulectro.
Her eclectic mix of thrift to sassy is an approach that led to work with Hell Bellz, Funky Fannys well as bring outfitted by the legendary fashion house Gucci for most of the singer’s live appearances, which matches the aesthetic of our readers.
Her do-it-yourself approach inevitably landed her backup slots for the likes of Estelle, Theophilus London, and Mickey Factz, opening up for Dwele at Spellman’s Homecoming concert, all before locking in her own string of dates that placed the singer in over 30 + headlining spots spanning from New York, Miami, London, and D.C. She also recorded an exclusive online promotion sneaker giant Converse for their 09 holiday campaign.
After infiltrating clubs and the consciousness of the young, progressive and exclusive, the song landed a deal with A-trak’s Fool’s Gold. Her yet-to-be titled debut (an EP, to be released March 2010) will guarantee a vast sounding body of work from the dancefloor jolts to your nervous system to the lover’s rock.
Without any further ado, Limité Magazine welcomes Shyvonne as one of our “Faces To Watch” in 2010.
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Sex! There I said it. I had mind-numbing, sweaty, bed-shaking, hot sex. In fact, I did it in public in front of a packed room of strangers. I even tried to prepare myself for it by getting some extra rest the night before. But it just wasn’t enough. Right now I’m breathing heavy, there are beads of sweat running down my neck, I feel light-headed and I’m weak in the knees. I need a cigarette and I don’t even smoke! It was orgasmic, magical and unbelievable all at the same time. Now before you start jumping to conclusions, take your mind outta the gutter and away from your crotch. See I was at last night’s Them Crooked Vultures show at Roseland in NYC and this is the only way that I can begin to describe how I felt as I exited into the cold February night. Continue reading “Them Crooked Vultures – Live Roseland – NYC 2/08/10” »
