Thursday, April 30, 2009

Daggering 101

Here is a brief attempt at explaining dancehall queens and daggering.

Dancehall queens are chicks who come to the dance to basically show off the most ridiculous dances that make even Freaknic (google image that, trust) look tame. They are Jamaican's most hood and most prized beauties all in one package.

The outfits worn to said dances are something between Jamaica carnival meets Slauson swap meet and are mostly hand made or commandeered from some sort of stripper retail outlet outside of Kingston. Once your outfit is did then you are going to want to get some sneakers because the ensuing amount of "f*ckery" that is sure to come will require athletic footwear, but there are still some sista souljahs that brave it in pumps.

While some dancehall queens have gone on to become artists in their own right such as Lady Saw and Patra most of them populate the crowd and attempt to steal the show with dances that would not be considered "Christian" to say the least.

This brings us to "daggering." This dance style is closer to sex in public than dancing. Let's be honest. Americans like to think that freaking is the penultimate in the sexually explicit dance world, but this could not be further from the truth. One peep at some daggeirng videos on Youtube will prove that you are not ready for the onslaught of pum pum thrusts. Nor does the average lady have the limber dexterity required to be stretched apart whilst simultaneously getting her "ninja boot" pounded on by some electric orange mohawked Jamaican telling her to "whine pon it"

What can I say though? I love Jamaicans in all their back assward ways and they never fail to amaze me.

In short Jamaicans do the darndest things.

Exhibit A:


Wednesday, April 29, 2009

The Exchange



The Exchange Blog is now up and running and looks like it will be updated more faithfully than the website.

For those not up on The Exchange it is a writing group started by Rime where writers exchange sketches to each other which they then go and paint.

Out of nowhere they just added a whole heap of new guys to the mix: Poet, Askew, Cecs, Cakes, Roids, Honke, and others.

Reggae Album Cover Art

Found some scorchers this time. Michale Palmer gets a double pass because one cover has the Limonious hand drawn "Lick Shot" type and the other is face melting good too.

Don't sleep on the Prince Allah type either.







Nick's Link



If you are a long time reader of SDTW then you already know that I post links and videos from my good friend Nick McPherson every now and again.

A lot of people send youtube links to me everyday and they're typically ho hum, but Nick for whatever reason was born with some preternatural sense to pick only the purest of the pure in viral videos.

Just watch above and be prepared to be wow'd by the "wild and crazy" Trenita.

One word:

Ew.

Quote of The Day: George Allen

"People of mediocre ability sometimes achieve outstanding success because they don't know when to quit. Most men succeed because they are determined to."

- George Allen

* FYI this quote is from the NFL coach George Allen not the racist Republican Senator George Allen. Although, they are related so maybe he is a retard too. Always read the fine print folks.

SDTW Needs



One of these. Badddddddddddd.

Young Jeezy



Not everyone is into trap rap. I myself tired of it a while back, but there are some albums that I personally think are actually too good to be considered just trap rap.

If Tony Robbins used metaphors for selling cocaine and ways of distributing said cocaine to motivate his audience he could pretty much just read the lyrics verbatim from this entire LP.

Hell, I could give this cd to my Moms and she would know how to run a trap empire. It's like the anarchist's cookbook for dope.

However, the aftermath from this release and its subsequent commercial popularity also led to a few suspect trends.

The first and most egregious was the legions of fat kids at bus stops rocking "Snowman" tees with sh*t like "I Got That Snow Mannnn" emblazoned on the back.

No dude. You don't have that snow, man. You do not sell that white "gurl" and the only thing you're "holdin" playboy is a half eaten Three Musketeers bar in your hand.

Secondly, a lot of dudes re-appropriated Jeezy's adlib vocal style and sort of ruined the novelty of it all. People like Oj Da Juiceman, Shawty Lo, and a whole slew of others have made careers off of Jeezy's adlib style. People bite it is inevitable.

So hate on this one all you want, but I'm gonna bump this one for a long time.




If this song doesn't pump you up before a mission your heart is pumping Kool Aid.


Download:

Young Jeezy "Thug Motivation 101"

Tuesday, April 28, 2009

Logo Bites Are For D*ckholes



Above: Memorize this concept kids



Why do brands/designers still parody logos and album covers?

Allow me to rant for a bit here...

When I think way back the first time I ever saw logo parodies would have to be in a Mr. Rags or Hot Topic in junior high. That is where I encountered such classic as "Marijuana's" (McDonald's Logo) and Pac-O-Bowl (Taco Bell Logo). Awesome.

Even way back then I felt it was a gimmick. I associated that "technique" if that is what you want to call it with those stores and that sort of clientele. Basically, I thought the shirts were for fat people and weird kids that liked chain wallets too much. I think that part has remained the same.

Now fast forward to 2003 when I first started designing tees and the initial wave of "streetwear" began getting media attention. Every one and their mother had some logo parody tee. Anything and everything was up for grabs: Bo Knows, Apocalypse Now, La Haine, Supreme, LIFE magazine, Starter, Do The Right Thing, and all things Wu Tang. Nothing was safe not even another clothing brand's logo was safe from the fad. Even now it still runs rampant with brands raping logos and artwork from the likes of The Smiths, Minor Threat, Black Flag, A Tribe Called Quest, and the list goes on and on.


Here are some stellar examples of the ever so clever logo parody:



Who is to blame for this never ending trend? I'd say the retail buyers, but then again their job is to sell the most units possible, but they essentially are the first line of defense against logo parody tees. If they passed on all logo tees brands and designers would be forced to stop mocking them up in their look books which would mean they wouldn't be sampled which would mean the end of this trend in the marketplace.

But, they don't and probably never will.

Is it a sign of the times? Is it going to just become some sort of tolerated aspect of graphic design forever? Will that be the legacy for the last decade in design? Sadly, I think so. This "biting" mentality isn't exclusive to just graphic design obviously, but that would warrant a whole other rant and I don't even care to go into it.

Answer these questions for me:

What does a logo parody mean? Why should the consumer buy into this concept? If anyone can do one then why should we believe that one is more unique than the other?

I mean you may as well just make a logo parody idea generator that randomly picks a logo or brand for you to bite for your next season.

Why think if you don't have to?

The real shame is that if people worked on making their own logos the same caliber then they would at least create something that someone else could end up doing a logo flip with down the road.

Nuff said.

Graff Purge

Here's some flicks from my personal stash and the rest are from the internerd.

Is it just me or does Horfe got the internet going nuts?












Design Of The Day



Agreed.

Burning Spear



Winston Rodney a.k.a Burning Spear.

You can't beat the Spear.

All of the original tunes on what is probably his best album next to "Marcus Garvey".







Download:

Burning Spear "Social Living" Full Album

Monday, April 27, 2009

Nine "Nine Livez"



How many of you remember Nine? Very few I'm sure. His cd was hard to come by even in his day. I remember hearing "Redrum" and just trying to find this album everywhere.

Listen below:



I never really learned much about Nine. You can read about him HERE but it sounds like dude didn't accomplish much after this album.

File this one under: Timbo Knockin Blunt Ash Backpack Rap

Download:

Nine "Nine Livez"

Saturday, April 25, 2009

Ranking Dread



Ranking Dread comes from the same school of style as Dillinger, Clint Eastwood, and Trinity. I remember hearing that they called their style of chat "kung fu style". Not really sure what the hell that means, but they are all some of my favorite deejays even though they sound similar.

This album is actually all roots with a little bit of dub to it. I think RD does fine over roots, but he really gets going on some of the faster riddims that he did with Sugar Minott a few years later.

This is one of my favorite tunes ever which is off his "Lots of Loving" LP.



Track List:

God Blessed Children
Natty Dread Is A Struggler
Poor Man
Girls Fiesta
Africa
Natty On The Rock
Sister Lorna
Kilburn Lane
Marijuana Soul
Ranking Ting


Run it p*ssy clot!!!

Download:

Ranking Dread "Girl Fiesta"

Friday, April 24, 2009

Ew



This is a new segment for SDTW I like to call "Notes You Don't Want To See When You Come Home From Work."

Snacks and Shit

Justin just sent me a link to this website and it's a doozy folks.

Real simple premise:

Take a bad rap lyric and then rip on whoever said the idiotic line.

Mt favorite thus far:



"Running your mouth, before I shit all in it."
- Beanie Sigel, Kiss Your Ass Goodbye (Extended Remix) by Sheek Louch

It would undoubtedly be the hardest thing ever to shit in another man's mouth, unless this man was asleep, and he slept with his mouth open... in which case you would be a creepy, perverted dude trying to shit in another man's mouth while he sleeps..

Filed under: Worst slumber party host / Pervert

Link:

SnacksandShit

Jah Thomas



I think this is Jah Thomas' first album. It's the oldest one I have at least. As usual it is a scorcher. There are a lot of Linval Thompson made riddims which are mostly "Barrington Levy" tunes that Jah Thomas toasts over.

The title track is pretty funny. It has Jah Thomas' over "Skylarking" and he pretty much just yells at the youths for "loafin" all day. I guess the youth were really lazy at the time. I don't know.

How fierce is that album cover though? Right?


Track List:

Stop Yuh Loafing
Black Star Liner
Love And Happiness
Bicycle Skank
Send Me The Pillow
Uncle Lester
Mr Nkruma
Landlord
My Jamaican Girl


Jah Thomas "Stop Yu Loafin" Full Album

Adolescents



I could never really get into new hardcore. I try and I don't think it's bad by any measure, but I just flat out like the 80's bands better.

Download it.


Track List:

1. I Hate Children - The Adolescents
2. Who Is Who - The Adolescents
3. Wrecking Crew - The Adolescents
4. L.A. Girl - The Adolescents
5. Self Destruct - The Adolescents
6. Kids of the Black Hole - The Adolescents
7. No Way - The Adolescents
8. Amoeba - The Adolescents
9. Word Attack - The Adolescents
10. Rip It Up - The Adolescents
11. Democracy - The Adolescents
12. No Friends - The Adolescents
13. Creatures - The Adolescents, Rikk Agnew
14. Welcome to Reality - The Adolescents
15. Losing Battle - The Adolescents
16. Things Start Moving - The Adolescents
17. O.C. Life - Rikk Agnew
18. 10 - Rikk Agnew
19. Yur 2 Late - Rikk Agnew
20. Everyday - Rikk Agnew



Download:

Adolescents "Welcome To Reality" Full Album

Thursday, April 23, 2009

Photo of The Day



Dang!

New Sizzla



Here is a new Sizzla album for you. There's a lot of throw away tracks on this one, but that is pretty much going to happen with any Sizzla album. It's better to just make your own Sizzla mix since he's all over the place.

Peep the "Babylon Ease Off" tune on there at the very least.

Download:
Sizzla "Ghetto Youthology"

Wednesday, April 22, 2009

Seattle In The Spring

Spring has finally hit Seattle, but then again it's raining today so maybe not.

Went to the Mariner's game for no real reason other than to have an excuse to eat hot dogs. I mean let's face it baseball is snorrringggg.




It's Clarence bitch!!! Oh and Wild Bill.



Junior is back sans gold chain, but back none the less.



From this far away you may as well be on mescaline. $8 dollars doesn't get you much.



Expect to see this Squishy character in a production on here real soon.



Sammy Sosa.



Fixed gears are like rollerblades. Once the "magic" wears off you're gonna be sorry. Also I'm well aware that a good percentage of my friends ride fixed gears which is cool. Don't get all "saddle" sore because I'm not talking about you guys. Well sort of.



One thing I love Seattle is the industry district at night. Looks mean.



Greasy little street children.



This is how a good day ends. Sketching with Clarence, Carrington, and Carl.

Jones' BBQ and Foot Massage



I wish this was real.

Best line:

"As soon as I get your social security number it's over."

Tuesday, April 21, 2009

Why Does Jamie Foxx Get a Pass?

I have to watch music videos all day at work. It's not a bad gig mind you, but some songs end up becoming permanently drilled into your brain for the remainder of the day.

Case in point:

Jamie Foxx's "Blame It"

Now I'm not going to hate on the song too much. It is what it is. What I am wondering is why is it that Jamie Foxx was able to pull off "Blame It" but for whatever reason Eddie Murphy was never able to live down "Party All The Time"?



Both songs use the sonic trademarks of the time Jamie Foxx's song is layered with auto tune crooning galore and Eddie's is doused in 80's synths and keys and even comes with a Rick James cameo.



So if you're still with me think about this....

Had the general public not been so harsh on Eddie for his ambitions to sing we might still have the Eddie Murphy of the 80's. Yes, the same Eddie Murphy who did Delirious, Raw, Coming To America, Trading Places, dick and pussy jokes Eddie Murphy. Now look what we have to deal with Doctor Dolittle, Nutty Professor, talking animal movies, getting Mel B pregnant, tranny sex? I mean it has been a downward spiral ever since.

I guess there's really no point I'm trying to make other than I think it's lame that Jamie Foxx (who I'm not saying is a bad actor or singer even) gets a pass when Eddie was doing the same thing almost 30 years ago. Had we embraced Eddie we could still be laughing our collective ass' off, but no we had to go and ruin poor Eddie's feelings and to make matters worse he paid us back the favor with a slew of crappy comedies.

Ali G



With all the hype around BrĂ¼no let us not so quickly forget Sacha Baron Cohen humble beginnings as the rudest bad man Ali G.

Mavado "Dem Alone"



New Mavado chunnnnnneeeee.

Run it.

Download:

Mavado "Dem Alone" mp3

Eye Crack

Sometimes I just marvel at the wonderful world that is the internet.












Just a few diddys that caught my eye. If you're trying to figure out the one with the chick on the couch it's simple: she left her black dildo on the counter. Rookie move!