So the next time you ask yourself where hiphop is goin’/ask yourself… where am I goin’? How am I doin’?
This could pass for one of hiphop’s worst years if you believed the hype, listened to the radio, or, y’know, just paid attention in general. I chalk this up to the insidious bullshit of the last few years wearing down our resolve—and ain’t it funny how comedians are respecting their obligation to protest these days, but musicians ain’t? With rap these days, you almost gotta attune yourself to the bullshit, so reheated cr-cr-cr-crap like Fat Joe‘s “Make It Rain” doesn’t sound like the shit sammich it is.
Occasionally, though, something pops up through the muck that reminds you of why you love that shit. Now I’m not trying to say it’s the answer, a classic, a movement, or any of that grandiose garbage, but I am mightily glad I received Ink Is My Drink, the debut album from hiphop duo Panacea. Composed of producer K-Murdock and MC Raw Poetic, the DC-based crew have conceived an album that is meditative, optimistic, and above all else, damned refreshing. Not merely getting a pass for its positive content, Ink Is My Drink is straight-up good music, sporting the warmth of Murdock’s dusty, fuzzed-out sound and Poetic’s Gift of Gab—meets—Black Thought mic deportment. The high BPMs, twinkly keys, and soaring strings of joints like “Starlite” and “Pulse” make for conscious, common-man rap that is simultaneously highly danceable—that key point missed by so many Public Enemy fetishizers. Panacea have accomplished that rare feat of producing a work that is both throwback and progressive, and you can’t be mad at that.
Of course, sometimes you need that seedy, low-life shit—at least I know I do. I would humbly recommend, then, one Mickey Avalon, one of Interscope’s newest acquisitions, and a fixture on the Hollywood scene. Not the glitz-and-glamma ‘wood, but rather the dirty, shirtless, needle-between-your-toes ‘wood populated by runaways, punks, and freaks of every stripe. You wild ‘n’ krazy Cap Hillbillies best be paying attention, ’cause this cat will likely be your guy next year… His shit is funny, filthy, and bound to catch on—and you can catch him for free at the High Dive Wednesday, October 18, along with my dudes the Saturday Knights and the crack local beatboxer B-Shorty. Don’t tell me I never gave you nothing, you goddamn ingrates. And oh yeah: This will be your last chance to see the Knights for six months; they’re going on a supersecret hiatus while they finish their debut full-length, and this is their party to celebrate getting signed to an undisclosed label… bitches. Stay tuned for more details in days to come.
Also, don’t sleep—Seattle hiphop is on the Paramount stage Friday, October 13, as Common Market open for Michael Franti‘s group Spearhead. I always liked Franti’s Disposable Heroes of Hiphoprisy better, but that’s my bitter inner rap know-it-all speaking. Just go support your own on one of Seattle’s biggest stages. Yamtambout?