Okay, be real here—how many of you actually sit down,
eat popcorn, and watch the goddamn MTV VMAs? Jesus. I only ask because
I heard up-to-the-minute bulletins about this Kanye/Taylor Swift bullshit like it was the Kennedy assassination. My dude Barry O called
it: Ye is a Steve-O-­certified jackass, and his haircut is
stupid. If we’re talking about music, then it’s about the fucking
music, period; everything else is PR, distraction, irrelevance. Okay,
one thing the aftermath of this bullshit did show (and Barry could
surely sympathize with this)—via Twitter, Facebook updates, and
comment sections across the interwebs—is that a lot of very
bigoted people are letting their true feelings be known. “Racism still
alive/They just be concealing it”? In 2009, not so much it seems. So
where’s this all going? And based on the perspective they demonstrate,
do you really care what a fucking pop star thinks about it?
Word?

That being said, let’s get to the job at hand here. This month’s
edition of the Corner (September 25 at the Rendezvous, of course) is a
study in contrasts. You got fresh-off-their-latest-tour emo-rap
heartthrobs the Let Go (whose Kublakai is also headlining
a show at Nectar on September 30), They Live! (uh, never heard
of ’em), local femcees known as Canary Sing (Ispire and Lioness, currently workin’ on their debut
record and combining their wry out ‘n’ about, sultry/hype perspective
with a lil’ grown ‘n’ sexy), and Bay Area to Sactown to SEA hustler
Outrageous. Outrageous’s album Two Time Tim (dedicated to
his lost homie Adam “Bizar” Todd) is sonically in line with that
Federation-style post-hyphy vibe, all synth-menace production
and hustle-grind, getting-money narrative. His hunger is apparent, his
growly rap more than capable (check “Need Mo Crack” or the
E-40-sporting “Money Don’t Fold”), but it’s not quite compelling
or distinctive enough to distinguish that same in-these-streets D-boy
subject matter that a hundred other cats in the Bay Area also grind out
(see Clyde Carson or Turf Talk, who both make memorable
appearances), so it tends toward the one-dimensional. But when he
clocks out from the block and speaks on his real life outside the grind
(“Two Time Tim,” “Rollin Stone,” “How This Life Goes”), Outrageous
grabs my attention. Yadidimean?

So I just checked out the free downloadable EP Roots.
Seeds. Stems. from local group Brothers from Another (whom I first saw at Hidmo the same night as another hungry young crew,
Kung Foo Grip). These cats (Breez and Goonstar)
are South End (I think) high-school-age dudes, and while there’s a lot
of room for improvement in sound/voice/cadence, there’s something about
their enthusiastic, Tribe-y kickback vibe that makes their freshmen
awkwardness kind of charming. (Plus, they use that Sporty Thievz “Cheapskate” beat.) So they got a ways to go, but I’m interested to
hear what they do in the future. Peep ’em for yourself at
www.brothersfromanother.wordpress.com. Hey, the Who called it: The
kids are alright.