Reflection, Sorry To Go...

Alright, I’ll be honest… the whole reason why I started this blog and continue to publish to it is because it is a grade for my english class. However, now that it is coming to an end I realize how much I am going to miss it. Writing to this blog is not only a way that I can keep in touch with people and share music I like with them, but it is a way that I can get a break from the world almost. When I am super into a post, I like totally forget about everything that is concerning me in life and just think about the music I am writing about. Which is another reason why writing to this blog it so cool, it helps me to expand my tastes due to what my readers want and even just learn more about different artists, and hear stuff from artists I have never even heard of. The music industry is a crazy place, there are so many people that want to be heard, so many different styles, and so much money. So how is there a place for everybody? Well at first you may think that there isn’t, which though I agree with, isn’t totally true. There is a place for everybody, weather it is Kanye West or Jay-Z, who are at the very top of the industry in money making terms, though their stuff is very mainstream and usually set up. Or if it’s Logic or Dizzy Wright, who are more in the mid range, but keep their lyrics and lessons that they bring incredibly real. Or if it is even people like me, who just write about big time artists, and maybe rap a little on their own time, knowing that they are going nowhere with it but do it just to have a good time. Even though the money isn’t there for everyone, there is a place there for everyone, you just have to know where you fit in and accept it. 

I decided to add this image because not only to I think it is really cool, but I think is shows a cool standpoint of the variety of people who make up the music industry. Think about it, weather you're the artist who is performing (Kendrick Lamar), a person in the crowd, the person taking the picture, or the person getting the picture off the internet to add to his small time blog, you are all part of the music industry. I got this picture from a Kendrick Lamar wesbsite. 

Me as a person… Reflecting on this year as a whole, for me personally (which I am only doing because it is a requirement for that pesky english class I was talking about), I would say that this has been a year for me where I have gone through the least change as a person compared to other years. I have gone through previous years, starting as one person, and ending as a completely different one. However, this year, I feel that, though I am of course different, it has been the most minor change so far. I mean, let’s compare. The year before this, I went into it a super good kid, thinking that I would never, ever, get into any of the bad rift-raft that you start to experience as an eighth grader. But two months into the year, I did. And then I got in trouble for it, multiple times. Which is obviously very sad and makes me sound kind of dumb, but you can see how easily I was influenced. This year, I went into it knowing that I would be surrounded by that type of thing, but telling myself that I would need to keep it in moderation, which I consistently have. I also have had virtually the same music tastes this whole year, and I have had more of a mellow, more athletic and academic focused lifestyle. Which was sacrificing my social life, which I had never done in the past. But it paid off, I made the varsity lacrosse team as one of two freshmen, and I have had a four point zero this whole year. I am proud of my accomplishments but know that I need to keep everything in check so I have a good balance. But before I go, I thought I should let you know that the main reason I made such a jump from inconsistent to consistent was something that one of my friends who graduated high school last year told me just before my school year started, “When you graduate from high school, it all goes away. All of the people who you tried so hard to be reputable for, all of the girls you’ve tried to impress, and all of the people you have let down. Which is why you should focus on all of the things that are going to help you in the long wrong.” 

I got this picture of "A Kid Just Trying to Fit In" from PBS. 

Saturday, April 25th. Part I

Three Saturdays ago, I went to one of the most fun concerts of my life. The concert was at The Complex in Salt Lake City, Utah, and the line up consisted of DJ Juggy, who we missed because the line to get in was so long. Mick Jenkins, who I had never heard of, but who was really entertaining, though the crowd wasn’t that turnt up. The Underachievers, who had the base up so much that you literally couldn’t distinguish any songs from each other, but the crowd was going crazy so it was still really fun. Dizzy Wright, who was my favorite by far, the crowd had mad hype, and he had some super great, fun songs which got everybody going. And finally, Flatbush Zombies, who were supposed to be the main event, and who did well, but I felt bad for them because Dizzy Wright was impossible to top. I was also bummed because we had to leave early so we didn’t get to see that much of Flatbush. But the couple songs that we did hear were super fun and buck (short for buck wild). 

I got this image of the concert's line up from The Complex's webpage. 

Aside from the concert and more about my blog, I want to let all you guys know that this will sadly be one of my last posts. The school year is coming to and end, I have a very busy summer, not that dedicated of a fan base, and I don’t really have the best time writing these, though I do really love sharing the music I’m into with my readers, so I don’t really see a reason to keep it up. However, since this is one of my last posts, I want to go out with a boom. So this post is going to be crazy, it will be in multiple parts, and it will be totally random, unorganized, but informational, and all based off of the concert I went to. You will learn all about the musicians that were there, and even about some of their sweet music. I would first like to talk about DJ Juggy, mostly because I am much more unfamiliar and have a lot less to talk about with him than the other artists. DJ Juggy is a Latino MC/DJ out of Las Vegas, Nevada. However, shortly into his musical career, he looked to expand his fan base and launch his career by moving to Salt Lake City, Utah, not far from where I live. He says that he loves the energy and opportunity here. Juggy was worked with many well known artists, dropped multiple mix tapes, which have a variety of styles, and has obtained the nickname “Salt Lake City’s Mixtape King.” I think it is cool to see a man coming here to launch his musical career, and also to learn about how much of a popular, providing place Salt Lake is for young artists. You can read more about Juggy, his career and early life, and where to find his music, at this City Weekly article. 

I got this picture of DJ Juggy from that same City Weekly article. 

Saturday, April 25th. Part II

For the second part of this post, I would like to talk about Mick Jenkins and The Underachievers. At the concert, these two were quite entertaining, Mick Jenkins because he had some great raw music, and The Underachievers because the crowd was going crazy while they were performing. Mick Jenkins is a twenty-four year old rapper that is originally from Huntsville Alabama, though he has spent the majority of his musical career in Chicago, Illinois. Jenkins, Jayson Jenkins, has released five mix tapes: The Mickstape, in 2012, The Pursuit of HappyNess: The Story of Mickalascage, also in 2012, Trees & Truths, in 2013, The Water[s], in 2014, and Wave[s], in 2015. Like I said previously, I hadn't heard of Mick Jenkins before hearing him at the concert. But what I heard, I liked. After the concert I downloaded a couple of his songs, however, I’ve never been able to get that into it, though I do realize that he definitely has talent. If you are interested in hearing some of his stuff, I would recommend listening to the two most recent of his mix tapes. Also, here is a link to a mix of some his most popular songs on YouTube. Some songs I would recommend looking at to get a good idea of what Mick Jenkins is like are Dehydration, Jazz, and Martyrs, all on that mix. Dehydration is probably my favorite song by him. It is interesting, his style in unique and I like it, though it not my absolute favorite, due to his aggressiveness and gnarliness in the content. You can easily see this in Dehydration. Not to mention that his catch phrase is “Drink more water.” At first, I thought he was just supporting staying hydrated and not drinking alcohol. However, I later found out that he is saying that when you take the drug ecstasy, you need to drink a lot of water, or your organs will fail and you will die. This is just a small glimpse of his gnarly content. I don’t mind it, it’s just a little too much sometimes. 

I got this picture of Mick Jenkins off of Rolling Stone's website. 

The next group of artists, I am not too familiar with either. The Underachievers consist of two members, AK and Issa Gold, and are based out of Flatbush, Brooklyn, New York City, New York. The two first met through a mutual friend, and they clicked instantly, sharing many common interested. They grew up a couple blocks away, and would work on music together, as well as with members of who later became Flatbush Zombies. The two have released two mix tapes,  Indigoism and Lords of Flatbush, which came out in 2013. These are what got them most of their popularity, though I am not the biggest fan. The next year they released their first studio album, Cellar Door: Terminus Ut Exordium. The music on this album is more flowy and lyrically advanced, however, a lot of the stuff still sounds the same as their previous two mix tapes. The only song that they have out that really stands out to me, is called Herb Shuttles. This is an awesome song to pump you up, and it is just an overall, fun, good song to jam to. This song has a lot of influences from Flatbush Zombies, but I like it a lot and would highly recommend checking it, though beware of profanity and an inappropriate music video. 

I acquired this image of AK and Gold from a wesbsite called Live2BeFree. 

Saturday, April 25th, Part III (Final Part)

To wrap up this crazy post, I am going to end with some of my favorite artists, and definitely my favorite two at the concert, Dizzy Wright and Flatbush Zombies. These artists have grown on my over time, and Dizzy Wright especially in recent times. To keep the chronological order that the concert went in adjacent with my blog, I will talk about Dizzy Wright first, even though I have already had a post with him in it. Dizzy is from Las Vegas, Nevada, and supports it to the fullest, which I think is really cool. He is a family man, has two daughters, and a wife, who spends quite a bit of time with, which I think is also very cool. Dizzy has released many mix tapes and EPs, consisting of Tha Takeover, What Hip-Hop Needs, Legendary, Soul Searchin’, Soul Searchin' (The Next Level), Free SmokeOut Conversations, The Golden Age, BrILLiant Youth EP, The First Agreement, State of Mind, and Lost In Reality (with Mark Battles). All of these I really enjoy and find a great variety of style in. My favorite song from these though is called Can’t Trust Em. This song is super hyped and is great for a pump up. Would definitely recommend listening to. Aside from his mix tapes and EPs, he has dropped one studio album, SmokeOut Conversations, and he in the process of releasing the next one, called The Growing Process right now. Three singles from it have already come out, but the actual album drops on May 26, 2015. The three singles are Train Your Mind, Floyd Money Mayweather, and I Can Tell You Needed it,  featuring Berner. I absolutely love all of these songs and can’t wait for the rest of the album. All three songs also have pretty cool music videos, so be sure to check them out. 

I got this great picture of Dizzy Wright from The Howard Theater's webpage.

The last group of the night to preform was Flatbush Zombies. This group is out of Flatbush, New York, and consists of Meechy Darko, Zombie Juice and Erick "Arc" Elliott, who is also their producer. The group was formed in 2010 and has been releasing music ever since. They have two EPs out, Clockwork Indigo (which was done with the underachievers) and It's All A Matter of Perspective. They also have two mix tapes, D.R.U.G.S. and BetterOffDEAD, but are yet to drop a studio album. I am definitely a fan of Flatbush’s music, however I need to be in the right mood. Like most of their stuff is super up beat and for pump up, which I like, but I am not always in the mood for. The main songs by them that I really enjoy are Palm Trees, Mraz, Thug Waffle, and 222, in opposite order of which I like the most. My favorite song that I saw them perform at the concert was Mraz, everybody in the crowd was having a blast and I was really feeling good vibes. Thank you guys as always for checking out my blog, I really appreciate it, and if any of you feel like I should not stop doing these posts, please let me know, because you may swing my decision of stoping. Peace and love,

- Eli Levine 

I took this picture of rap group Flatbush Zombies off of The-B Side's website

Watching Movies With The Sound Off// Part One

Watching Movies With The Sound Off

I was looking through my blog earlier today and I couldn’t believe that I didn’t have a post about one of my favorite rappers, Mac Miller. Mac has been on a huge influence on me, being one of the first rappers I listened to. Being one of my early musical influences, I am a huge fan of his older music. But I am going to write about an album that he released in the June of 2013 called Watching Movies With the Sound Off. The content in this album is much different than the content in his previous music. His music in the past has been fun, joyful, and upbeat. However, this album, is incredibly sad, deep, and thoughtful. But I love it. It’s not just that I really enjoy the lyrics, beats, and flow, it’s the way I connect with it. Like there is seriously no way to explain the way I relate it, it’s really something else. 

I got this picture of the album cover from Wikipedia. Sorry the cover is pretty inappropriate. 

Watching Movies With The Sound Off
The first time hearing this album was the day after my dad and I were having this really deep conversation about the stars, life on other planets, and our theories on how we came to be. The next day, I came across a song called Aquarium on Pandora. The song literally addressed all the things we were talking about. It seemed like an unreal scenario. The impact the conversation had on me was enough, but hearing that song so closely after, got to me on crazy emotional levels. Crazy stuff like that always happens to me, like weird connections made with a random correlations of things at totally random times. And though it’s completely odd and I have no way of explaining it, I love it. It just makes me think about how crazy the world is, and though it just totally baffles me, it amazes me as well. And those are two of the main reasons why I love music so much. One, the amazing and insane stories that you hear about people traveling the rags to riches, or visa versa, road in the music industry. Two, the thought provoking lyrics that each different song contains. Sorry to get so side tracked, but I thought I would give you some of my deep insight. I’ve also been trying to mix up these posts to keep them more interesting by making them more unorganized, so definitely be sure to tell me what you think of them compared to the ones from the two earlier quarters. Back to the album, like I was saying, I relate to it in crazy ways. From the deepness of Aquarium like I already talked about, to the sad story of The Star Room, which I fear happening to me in my life. I feel Mac in this album on another level. I’ve never felt the same thing with music. And you know that “chills” feeling that I always talk about? The feeling that you get when something really reaches you, or something is so good, that it gives you goosebumps. Well almost every song on this album constantly does that to me. 

Watching Movies With The Sound Off// Part Two

The Songs Themselves 

The lyrical schemes, wordplay, and flow of this album are astounding. There’s no other way to describe it other than astounding. Mac uses words that I don’t even know the meaning of, and rhymes them with other words that I don’t know the meaning of, while telling an amazingly deep story that reaches me on unexplainable levels. He really killed it with this album is all I have to say. And by that I don’t only mean in my opinion, the first week out he sold 101,000 copies. Not quite J. Cole’s 371,000, but still very impressive. He released three singles before the album, S.D.S., Watching Movies, And Goosebumps (how ironic), all oh which hit 43 or above on Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs. And the album itself for up to number three on the Billboard 200, being praised mostly for its “ psychedelic hip hop influence and improved lyricism,” very impressive. As for the individual songs on the album, I do like all of them, however, six songs really stood out to me from me first hearing the album, and those five songs still stick out to me today. Some I’ve already mentioned, but they are Someone Like You, Watching Movies, Aquarium, Suplexes Inside of Complexes and Duplexes, REMember, and The Star Room. I am going to review each of them, similar to what I did in the Don’t Over Think post about Castro. 

 I got this picture of Mac from Billboards.com

Someone Like You  

Someone Like You is just a great song. Fun to listen to, deep lyrics, great flow and awesome background music and chorus. Part of the reason I like this song so much is because it is perfect for multiple occasions. Like it has a pretty upbeat beat, and faster lyrics, so it’s not bad for a pump up song. But it also it pretty sad and has deep ass lyrics, so it’s also perfect to listen to when you’re going to bed, thinking a lot, or even just having a bad day. I love versatile music. Speaking of versatile, Mac may be the most versatile rapper I know of. The story in this song is very interesting, and kinda hard to determine at first, but after listening to it closely a couple times, you’ll get it. But I don’t want to spoil it, so be sure to check it out and listen very closely. 

Watching Movies 

This is one of two dedicated “pump up” songs on Mac’s album (the other one being O.K., HIGHLY EXPLICIT). But though this song is faster paced and great for pump up, it is still pretty deep and depressing. I really really like the lyrics of this song, they are brutally honest, and I think the point of view of them are really interesting. A big main idea of the song is money. Mac talks about how he is so set with money that he really has nothing to worry about. He also talks about how him and his team are trying to start a “revolution.” By this they mean changing around the rap game and gaining ground to overcome all others. One really prominent verse in the song is “People worship these idols, till they come in contact with god.” This verse shows up many times in this song, and the theme of this verse shows up quite often throughout the whole album. I think his perception of god and people is very interesting, and listening to his music helps me get an idea of it, which I think is pretty cool. So definitely check out this song, pretty popular, it was one of the three singles, and it’s solid. But if you watch the music video, have caution, it’s pretty explicit! If you would rather just listen to the audio, click here.

I got this image from the music video for Watching Movies. It's Mac driving a car with a bunch of ladies. 

Watching Movies With The Sound Off// Part Three

Aquarium  

This is definitely one of my favorite songs on the album. Like I’ve already talked about, it hits me on duper deep philosophical levels. I love the stuff he addresses in this song, I love the beat, and I love the flow. It is just such solid song, I just get stoked on it every time I listen to it. Verses like “My mind it wonders to places yonder and even farther. When I’m sleep walking I’m Steven Jobs or I’m Peter Parker…” or “I always wonder what happened three thousand years ago, I like to toy with the idea that we really know. Is what I do important in the grand scheme of things? In my head these dreams are dreamt, trust me we are kings,” just get me going. Like I seriously have thoughts like these all the time, so to know I’m not the only one is just really special to me I guess. There are plenty more of these crazy deep versus further into the song so be sure to go check it out. 

I got this picture form Mac's live performance of Aquarium on SBTV. 

Suplexes Inside of Complexes and Duplexes 

An Interesting song name, huh? I honestly have no idea what it mean, and I’m pretty sure “suplexes” isn't even a word. This is one song on the album that I didn’t end up listening to until just last week actually. And when I heard it, the main thing that stood out to me was Mac’s opening verse with some crazy advance words, followed by a sick into with a man yelling “This is madness! This is an outrage! Matter of fact, this is outrageous!” The combination of these two gave me the chills, and I knew right away that this would be another stellar song on this album that I just fall in love with. After listening to the song a couple more times, and trying to break down the lyrics to understand the story, it got me nowhere; it just leaves me very confused. Though this brings liking to the song for that reason. Every lyric in the song is very random and it seems like there is no real subject to the song, other than Mac having a conversation with himself. But I like how the song leaves you with open ends that you have to think about for yourself. Another really cool thing about the song is that Jay Electronica is featured in it, I really like his verse, but it is somewhat like Mac’s; by that I mean that it is rather confusing and left with some open ends. But overall a really cool song with some crazy wordplay and cool background music, transitions, and sound effects. Would definitely recommend checking it out.