Jesus, was I ever scared that the story of Michael Eugene Archer, AKA D'Angelo, was gonna end in tragedy. The 31-year-old soul genius was in a hellafied wreck a few weeks ago. He was first said to be in critical condition, then that he hadn't sustained so much as a broken bone—not bad for being ejected from his Hummer. We've all been waiting with bated breath for the follow-up to his '97 masterpiece Voodoo, and we groaned as he ran into troubles with the 5-0 and whatnot. Thankfully, he'll be completing his third album soon. I hope it has some of that Kanye-style damn-I-almost-just-fucking-died inspiration in tow.
Didja happen to catch the VH1 Hip Hop Honors? There were some great performances (LL's dominating "Mama Said Knock You Out") and some questionable ones (Ice-T's breathless "Colors"). Yeah, I groaned when Nelly performed LL's "I'm Bad," but I gotta admit that homeboy did a pretty good job. The Big Daddy Kane tribute was the best, with Black Thought pulling off the Smooth Operator's licks—but BDK's own performance was "Raw" like sushi, even getting in a li'l vintage aerial footwork with rap's most famous backup dancers (if you don't count Puff and Jermaine Dupri) Scoob and... hey, wait, that ain't Scrap! I don't think the charisma-deficient Russell Simmons (just stick to "god bless and goodnight") and Rev Run made an ideal hosting team, but the event was eminently watchable throughout. Speaking of Rev Run—look, he's from the most important rap group ever, he's irrefutably hiphop to the grain... but damn, he's scarin' the crap outta me with that priest/superhero look he's rocking in his press photos. His new single "Mind on the Road" sounds like some vintage Rick Rubin shit, with that gigantic Joan Jett loop and everything, but what's more frightening than a screaming priest in a satin cape striking a b-boy stance? Exactly.
Absolutely make Neumo's your destination come Thursday, October 6, for two distinct takes on funked-up socio-politically charged hiphop courtesy of the Coup and the Lifesavas. The 'Savas have been hard at work over the last couple years on the follow-up to 2003's supertight Spirit in Stone. Expect to hear some of the fruits of their labor as they share the stage not only with the Bay Area firebrands but 206 jack-of-all-trades Ayinde Howell.
"Not Guilty!" Beanie Sigel has been acquitted of attempted murder after the key witness had a severe memory lapse... yeah, of course it seems suspect! Whatever the case, I'm glad to see the brother beat it so he can keep making dope music—so I'm selfish, sue me. While we're talking coke-rap, I should mention that the Clipse's newest mixtape We Got It 4 Cheap Vol. 2 is bananas fucking flambé... Pusha T, Malice, Ab Liva, and Sandman spit that obnoxious dope-dealer jargon over the industry's hottest beats—it's a wrap!
Lastly, a great big RIP goes out to Willie Hutch, the Motown writer/producer responsible for, among other things, the Jackson 5's "I'll Be There" and the superb soundtrack to The Mack. Brothers are still gonna work it out.
