MUSIC NERD 20

Longevity, Hip-Hop, vinyl, and colorful characters

Longevity

The hip-hop community is celebrating its 50th year in 2023. Chuck D of Public Enemy hosts a new PBS show about hip-hop’s legacy called “Fight The Power: How Hip Hop Changed the World,” and the Universal Hip-Hop Museum broke ground in 2021 and is expected to open next year in The Bronx, where the genre is widely believed to have been born in the rec room of an apartment building in the summer of 1973.

The Long Island hip-hop trio De La Soul is probably best known for the hit song “Me Myself & I,” or maybe their 2006 Grammy-winning collaboration with Gorillaz on the song “Feel Good Inc.,” but legal disputes have kept most of their music off streaming platforms until now: the group’s first six albums will officially become available on March 3.

Joey Bada$$ recently released his version of Mos Def’s 1999 song “UMI Says.”

I’m currently reading the 33 and 1/3 book on the making of “Paul’s Boutique” by The Beastie Boys. Today that album is considered by many to be a groundbreaking, game-changing addition to the hip-hop canon, but critics at the time said the sample-driven music “collages” on the album lacked proper song structure. In The Daily Mail in London, writer Marcus Berkmann called “Paul’s Boutique” “the single most tedious album by a supposedly ‘major’ act that I’ve ever heard.”

Many hip-hop academics and luminaries are involved with the process of archiving hip hop, and it’s not an easy process: A few years ago I interviewed a hip-hop archivist who had to figure out how to deal with mold on a pair of Tupac’s sneakers.

On rotation

You may not know the name Leon Michels but you’ve heard his music: he produced Aloe Blacc’s “I Need a Dollar,” produced Lee Fields & the Expressions, and toured with Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings, among many other accolades. His latest project is a collaboration with Black Thought of The Roots, whose last collaboration was with Dangermouse.

To spin or not to spin

Vinyl album sales in the United States have grown for the 17th consecutive year, and LPs accounted for 43 percent of album sales in 2022, but those records make up less than five percent of overall music consumption. Also: many of those record collectors don’t own a turntable; they just like to collect stuff and look at it.

But if you’re not a huge artist like Taylor Swift or Beyonce or Adele, does it make sense to put your music on vinyl? My band RADIO VELOSO has been debating this question for several years. We have 15 new, original songs we intend to record and release in 2023, but what’s the smartest way to release that music? There’s no clear answer for bands like ours, who have small fanbases and no management or record deal and would need to put thousands of our own dollars into it. So here’s a question:

Epilogue

Patti Smith’s tribute to Television’s Tom Verlaine is a short but powerful read about friendship and music.

If you haven’t already, check out the vibrant Twitter feed of David Crosby of Crosby, Stills, Nash, & Young, who died recently at age 81. Bob Dylan wrote in his memoir that Crosby “was a colorful and unpredictable character, wore a Mandrake the Magician cape, didn’t get along with too many people and had a beautiful voice — an architect of harmony … (He) could freak out a whole city block by himself, but I liked him a lot.”

Thanks for reading MUSIC NERD! New playlist is up on Spotify: