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[audio:http://nyc.duttyartz.com/mp3s/TonyAllen-OleMoritzVonOswaldRemix.mp3]

Tony Allen – Ole (Moritz Von Oswald Remix)

There is a lot going on here – a world shrinking and expanding, traditional Yoruba ceremonial drums and chants being laced with spacious/spacey (digital?) synth-pads, you can feel the continents drifting closer and apart as the sounds unfold, combine, and mingle, the relationship between Africa and Europe in the 21st century.

I started listening to Rhythm & Sound and Basic Channel around 2004.  They, Moritz Von Oswald and Mark Ernestus, struck me as complex, disciplined, sophisticated musicians.  In the video below from sometime late last year, Moritz answers questions, explains his/their history, economic philosophy, work ethic, etc., at length as the audience and the interviewer sip Red Bull and doze off, and vibe to the music.  It’s great to hear/see him talk, but you have to brave the aggressive marketing overkill for Red Bull.  I would like to read or watch an extensive interview with him conducted in a different environment, but this one is alright for now, I guess –it’s relaxed, and he appears to be comfortable.

As I listened to Moritz’s German accent, I thought about one of Rupture’s point in an interview with Plan B magazine – “the internet contributes to the spread of English-language hegemony.”  I also thought about my African/Sierra Leonean accent, which is not very strong but it’s there –a constant reminder that I am speaking other peoples’ language rather than my own. What if the interview was done in German and translated or transcribed for English and other speakers? That would be too much trouble, an unnecessary struggle, right? Red Bull Music Academy is an annual international affair hosted in cities around the world, features guest lecturers and participants, and almost everyone who spoke, had some form of accent (including British.)

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G-Side – Run Thingz

[audio:http://nyc.duttyartz.com/mp3s/GSide-RunThingz.mp3]

G-Side‘s Starshipz and Rocketz, a fourth quarter release from an independent label in Huntsville, Alabama ~ Slowmotion Soundz ~ is without question one of the greatest misses of 2008.  Produced by Block Beataz (think Organized Noize, UGK, Three 6), don’t let the Afrofuturist/”Afronaut” title mislead you,  the album is down to earth, cohesive, remarkable, unpredictable and exciting.  Read Andrew Noz’s review here.

Why is the duo’s name missing from the album cover? It only has the record label and the album title, as in “Slowmotion Soundz presents Starshipz and Rocketz” prompting Amazon to call the group Starshipz and Rocketz. CD Baby got it right.  Can someone please help identify that sample? I’ve noticed samples on the album ranging from Enya to Isaac Hayes.

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Delicious looking indian vegetarian food. I’m hungry.

I’m a vegetarian. It’s not something I try to stick in people’s faces all the time or have a lot of arguments about. I think of it as my small, daily, repetitive contribution to having a little less violence in the world, consuming less resources and keeping the planet a little greener. I became veggie when, working as a video editor about ten years ago, I had to edit footage of a slaughter house.

If you know video editing you know it means watching things again and again and again. For me the thing that pushed me over the edge was a shot of a guy herding sheep off a truck. One of the sheep resisted and he punched it in the face and kicked it off the high back of the flatbed truck. Usually people think of the slaughter of animals as a dispassionate process. When I saw this guy kicking and punching this sheep it drove home to me the fact that the killing of animals for food is violent, just like the killing of anything.

A friend of mine, a guy that I worked under as an intern at a video studio in high school was vegetarian and what he said about it was that he felt that we, as the human race, have reached a point where eating meat is no longer a survival necessity and has become a luxury. I agree and I think with the more that we learn about the destructiveness of our industrialized life-style to the environment, our lives and the lives of people outside it that it is a luxury that we as a species can no longer afford.

For those who would say: “But we’re omnivores, it’s natural for us to eat meat.” I would say that there is a great deal of “natural” behavior that we don’t practice any more usually because we have developed a higher standard of morality. Murder, slavery and rape all spring to mind. Things which might be considered ‘natural’ behavior in a law-of-the-jungle situation have been shed as our culture matures and becomes more thoughtful. I think that meat eating is one of those things that we should move towards leaving in the violent past of our species.

Collage of various tasty looking veggie foods.

This article from the Audobon magazine got me thinking about all this, specifically in the context of the environment and global climate change, and I recommend it. The main point of it is the terrific energy inefficiency which goes into raising, slaughtering and trucking all that meat.

Barbecue loving vegetarian Mike Tidwell writes:

“Simply put, raising beef, pigs, sheep, chicken, and eggs is very, very energy intensive. More than half of all the grains grown in America actually go to feed animals, not people, says the World Resources Institute. That means a huge fraction of the petroleum-based herbicides, pesticides, and fertilizers applied to grains, plus staggering percentages of all agricultural land and water use, are put in the service of livestock. Stop eating animals and you use dramatically less fossil fuels, as much as 250 gallons less oil per year for vegans, says Cornell University’s David Pimentel, and 160 gallons less for egg-and-cheese-eating vegetarians.”

Something I tell people who start explaining to me about why they eat meat when they learn that I’m vegetarian is that vegetarianism is not for everyone and if you are concerned about these issues simply eating less meat also makes an excellent contribution. I eat milk, eggs and cheese (I could never, ever give up cheese, sorry vegans) but no meat or fish. Thinking about the food you eat from an environmental perspective and making choices like eating lower on the food chain (smaller animals and fish) is both healthier and more sustainable. More than anything my recommendation to everyone is to just think a little bit as you choose what to eat.

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Pirates hijacking large shipping vessels on the Somali coast and in the Gulf of Aden is a top news item this year, especially after the takeover of Saudi-owned Sirius Star which was carrying two million barrels of oil bound for the U.S.   Most recently, the news has been about combating and taking steps to “crack down” and “curb” this problem of piracy, which has been going on since the early ’90s, at the start of the country’s civil war.

There is always two or more sides to a story.  From what I understand, the region the Chinese are planning to control is so incredibly vast that military action will, without a doubt, prove ineffective.  Depressing economic situation and a lack of a central government are only two of the forces pushing young men in “cash-strapped, hungry Somalia” to piracy. What happens when life on land becomes unlivable, chaotic, poverty-stricken, when there is no work, no income?  Desperate people look towards the sea…

Check the new video from Mogadishu born, Ontario based emcee, K’naan, who recorded his entire album in Kingston, JA, thanks to his friends Stephen and Damian Marley who granted him access to their late father’s recording studio>>>

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7lCPXEARpE8[/youtube]

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[audio:https://duttyartz.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/12/willie-isz-in-the-red.mp3]

Willie Isz – In The Red

Big props to Noz, not simply because I am flagrantly swiping this song from Cocaine Blunts, but also for being an insightful and reliable blogger.

Willie Isz is Khujo Goodie and Jneiro Jarel, the most appealing (genuine and soulful) group to come out of the Dungeon Family collective in recent years. Khujo Goodie was/is a member of one of the rawrest Southern hiphop groups, Goodie Mob- a group which also possessed (perhaps even fundamentally, I must stress) a positive and uplifting spirit. Jneiro Jarel is also/partly responsible for a very open and progressive hiphop album, one of the best underground hiphop albums in recent memory.

Starvation, American politics, fear, unfairness, home foreclosures, a life of crime, being a son, and remaining optimistic and thankful in a world that is bleeding —are just a few of the things that this song is touching on. Jneiro Jarel’s production here harkens back to a time when DF and Organize Noized was at their most excellent, prompting Noz to note “Dude is on some serious Dungeonize shit,” and I cannot agree more.

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[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yazG1hKuCww[/youtube]If you live in a major metropolitan area, you’ve probably seen these shirts, with the big STOP SNITCHING graphic on them. In the video above, taken from the Criminals Gone Wild DVD series, we hear a masked self-professed criminal commenting on Dipset rapper Cam’ron’s interview with Anderson Cooper where they discuss the subject of police cooperation and whether Cam would snitch on a serial killer next door. Saying he would move and not tell anyone Cam seems to be taking the whole stop snitching ethos to a ridiculous extreme.

The moral code of not snitching arose as a response to the divide and conquer techniques of white slave holders. By rewarding slaves for snitching on one another the masters were able to ensure that slaves remained divided from one another and would never be able to trust one another enough to organize and revolt. If you can’t tell your fellow oppressed people about your plan to overthrow the bosses for fear that they’ll tell on you then you will never be able to build a group insurrection to overthrow them or take revenge.

Katt William’s in a fairly recent comedy routine decried Lil’ Kim’s going to prison for as he says “NOT snitching, something your MAMA ALWAYS TOLD YOU TO DO!” The fact that a culture of not-informing arose in response to a coordinated program of divide and conquer, setting the oppressed against one another is completely un-surprising and makes perfect sense.

That that would be incorporated into a criminal code also makes very obvious sense. Criminals do not have recourse to the law to settle their disputes and therefore often need to police themselves and those around them, often through violence. Indeed, as the masked man in the video points out, if you are not going to snitch on the serial killer then you have a moral responsibility to as he says “get your boys and go deal with him”. But as he also points out, if you are not a criminal, this shit does not apply to you.

Taken to the furthest extremes, basically, of never cooperating with the police for any reason, as Cam’ron seems to propose with his serial killer comments, reflects a completely amoral view, basically that none of us have any responsibility to anyone but ourselves. In truth, this is not at all surprising considering Cam’ron is one of the major proponents of crack rap, a genre that unrepentantly glamorizes selling drugs in your community and basically reflects a sociopathic and completely self-involved ‘everyone for himself’ attitude. The fact that Cam’ron is being given a lesson on ethics by a masked, self-professed violent criminal on a DVD that advertises among it’s features “assaults, shootings, drivebys, rape, getaways, carjackings, setups, drug spot robberies, home invasions, deadly retaliations, interviews, and more!!!” (from their youtube description) should give all his fans and knee-jerk “stop snitching” advocates something to think about.

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[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wUT1WgHat6I[/youtube]

Yes we did. Oh yes we did America.

I was riding over the bridge this morning on the subway and saw the American flag on top of the Brooklyn Bridge and felt different.

My sister quoted to me a great statement from President Elect Barack Hussein Obama, during the campaign. To paraphrase, she said that someone had asked him who Dr. King would have endorsed in this election. And he said that Dr. King wouldn’t have endorsed anyone, he would have put together a movement to pressure whoever took power. I agree. As Barack said, this is not the change that we have been waiting for, but an opportunity for it.

And yes I’m sure all my radical friends will have many things to say to deflate some of our euphoria at this. But to see Obama carry Virginia, North Carolina, Florida, Ohio, Nevada, Colorado and New Mexico… The southern states alone, for a black candidate for the most powerful office in the land to win in the former confederacy, with many individuals who sat in at lunch counters, rode buses and faced death against segregation and jim crow looking on, in their lifetimes, the mind just boggles. John Lewis was on MSNBC talking right after the win and he just looked, for lack of a better word, thunder-struck. Having not lived through those times I can only imagine what it must mean to have experienced the segregated south first hand, and then watch pieces of it vote for a black president.

“I just don’t know how to express myself.”

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oo-ijYnzn1w[/youtube]

And make no mistake about it, it was NOT the black vote which elected President Elect Obama (I just love writing that). There are not enough black people in this country to do it. Millions of white voters looked at him and saw, if not themselves, someone they could trust with their security, prosperity and future. Even if we call it purely symbolic, it is a massive, awesome event.

And I’ll put on my critical hat, and watch every move he makes to see if he fulfills his tremendous promise, tomorrow. But today…. Man. I’m so happy.

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[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7QIGJTHdH50[/youtube]

Richard Trumka of the AFL-CIO talking about racism in the context of this election. Just watch it.

This goes to a point that I don’t have time to talk about enough which I feel that a lot of people miss: a huge amount of the evil that is done and called racism is actually about class, rich people oppressing poor people and using any issue they can to keep people from recognizing that.

I feel like Race In America, as much as it shouldn’t be marginalized or ignored, is really a smoke screen for class warfare advocated for and perpetrated by people like the Republican party. I feel that the biggest differences are not between me and a black friend who grew up comfortable (aka rich in the eyes of 97% of the world), with two parents and access to education and resources, like me. I feel the gap is much greater between myself and someone who grew up in a much rougher situation, without all of those things and the outlook that arises out of that, whatever race they are.

Those gaps, the differences, are the cracks that racism grows in, along with the fear and resentment that arises when people fail to understand one another. When these differences are watered and fertilized and nursed and encouraged by people like Sarah Palin, trying to turn Barack into the ‘frightening other’ the ‘socialist’ the ‘muslim’ who ‘isn’t a real American’ all that she is trying to do is continue the familiar tactics of divide and conquer, to keep the have-nots at one another’s throats while the haves consolidate their wealth and power. The Republican’s are very, very explicit about this, with their policies of trickle down economics (table scraps anyone?) and belief that the free market will take care of everyone (everyone who matters anyway) and it is only through the use of things like racism that they are able to keep poor people divided enough to believe that someone like John McCain or Sarah Palin is on their side, one of them, with their best interests in mind.

We’re 32 hours out from the first polls closing. I’m confident but also deeply impatient. I was talking about some music business with someone on the phone last night and he said “We could meet Tuesday night?” I told him “I am not gonna be anywhere besides on the edge of my mom’s couch in front of the TV until Barack wins this fucking thing.”

It’s super-realness time America. God save us if he doesn’t win.

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Did you notice how cool Barack was in the last debate? Have you notice how much gray hair has popped out of Barack’s head over the course of his campaign? Is Barack able to be himself? Can you really even get angry while in fear of being angry?

In that same/last debate, did you also notice how John McCain was blinking about a hundred thousand times a minute? Did you see the bulge in his neck? He was visibly upset, and you can tell by the way he was interrupting Barack and by his jagged responses.  Did you also notice in the second debate when McCain referred to Obama as “that one”? All Barack could do was just smile (and you know that somewhere in his bones, he would like to say that “this is some BS”.)

Anger is a natural emotion, but if you are black, Latino, a person of color, there’s no space in these United States for you to be angry.  It has taken me years to understand that as a black person, it is not acceptable to be angry in America.  People will be terrified of you, but this is not about me, (I am still angry and trying to realize the difference between proactive anger and reaction anger) this is about Brother Barack.

I pray that Our Beloved Brother Barack has some outlet.  I pray that he and Sister Michelle have some private conversations about black stress and internalized racism.  Black stress and internalized racism can lead to heart attacks and high blood pressure. I hear that he’s smoking again, that can only accelerate the process.

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J. Edgar Hoover (FBI Director for a very long time) constantly referred to black people, specifically civil rights leaders (including MLK) as communists or socialists. In the last few days, McCain’s criticisms of Obama’s economic/tax policies of “spreading the wealth” as socialism echo those old attacks and accusations of black leaders.  That is racist and hypocritical, after McCain voted for the use of government funds to bail out Wall St.

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Here’s what inspired this post… Brand new DB!

[audio:http://nyc.duttyartz.com/mp3s/DavidBanner-WhenYouHearWhatIGotToSay.mp3]
David Banner – When You Hear What I Got To Say


David Banner talks Election ’08 with DJ Hyphen from DJ Hyphen on Vimeo.

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Tim Wise should not be one of the few white people in America who talk consistently about white privilege, but he is.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_UJlNRODZHA[/youtube]

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Doug Blackmon of the Wall Street Journal went to Mississippi and found some black McCains. They’re descendants of slaves owned by the white McCain’s in their plantation years one hundred fifty years ago. I’m sort of surprised that no one has brought this up before. No political dynamite here but another interesting, complicated American story.

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[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4PI1CEniLIk[/youtube]

General Steele of the Cocoa Brovas (formerly Smif n Wessun, if you don’t know look ’em up) recorded this tune over a Kanye beat expressing his thoughts about Obama’s candidacy, with Dutty Artz crew member Jahdan singing the chorus. Jahdan and Steele are longtime collaborators going all the way back to the Smif n Wessun classic ‘Sound Bwoy Buriel’, viewable below. I’ve been meaning to write a longer post about some of the things that have been great and inspirational about Obama’s candidacy. The fact that he inspires both people like Steele, Colin Powell and David Brooks to speak highly of him is a pretty crazy starting point. This guy inspires people across party lines and levels of interest in politics. I’ve met tons of people who previously didn’t give a damn about politics who have become engaged, interested and motivated because of Obama’s run. The other details which help us understand this, in a quick list, are:

1) The incredible level of skill and competency he’s shown in running his campaign. His current 11 point lead in the polls (Gallup) and incredible fundraising advantage based on small, internet based donations from voters, not corporations or lobbyists are good examples here.

2) His application of an organizing type model to the structure of his campaign. Basically by trusting volunteers to run the campaign skillfully and focusing campaign money on training people rather than paying operatives he’s created an unprecedented, incredible grassroots ground team that I think will change the way electoral politics is played. To use a cliche he’s applied the ‘give a man a fish/teach a man to fish’ saying to politics and struck political gold.

3) He’s very, very smart and talented. He can speak, write, talk policy and do it in a way that people can relate to and understand. I read his book “Dreams from my Father” and it’s great. If you are on the fence about him, have some questions, etc, READ THIS. It was written before his career in politics and it shows. It’s a very honest, thoughtful, often painful account of his early years and is an absolutely unique American story.

Steele says:

One day I was inspired to do this song.I know alot of people have their opinion about the whole election especially Obama.No I do not look at him as the savior of the “black” race.I thinkhe does represent the potential of “black” people.So I say he is a positive role model win or lose.Say what you want to as you sit on the sideline of life…Get up and Live(qoute from Nesta).This is a Kanye track that he gave Weezy,and Cynical surfed for the images,and my boy Jahdan(Noble Society)is on the Hook,and Mantecha on background vox.It’s all expression.

Sound Bwoy Buriel video:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nSBxSPr0A_g[/youtube]

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I’m really hoping this is McCain’s “Macaca” moment. Interviewed and asked how many houses he owned: “I think — I’ll have my staff get to you,” McCain told Politico in Las Cruces, N.M. “It’s condominiums where — I’ll have them get to you.”

Mannnnn. I can tell you exactly how much I’ve got in the bank right now (not enough), and how many houses I own: none. I also don’t have a staff to keep track of these things for me, I just remember. For someone who’s supposed to be running the country and keeping track of a lot more information than that, this is not a good look for the McCain campaign. David Gergen has been quoted again and again as saying “Obama needs a game-changer” due to the fact that he is not further ahead in the polls. This might be it.

Obama’s hitting hard on it now, something I’m happy to see since a lot of Democrats have opted not to fight dirty in these kind of fights in the past and some would argue lost because of it (Kerry’s swift boating anyone?) and I personally want a candidate that is gonna take it to the Republicans with two fists and throw mud, rocks and whatever else is handy in order to WIN. Let’s hope Obama and his surrogate’s stay on message with this one and just keep beating McCain with this right up to November. I don’t really see a lot of outs for the McCain people either, aside from attacking back, which they’re trying, using the same elitist celebrity tactics they’ve been on but I really doubt they can get much traction against this. Oh, and the number did come out, it’s not “More than four” (wtf kind of answer is that?!?!) it’s actually SEVEN, including houses on both coasts and more places in between. If you live in a swing state like Ohio, Florida or Virginia be sure to let as many people as you can know about this one.

For the two videos click through to watch the Obama commercial and remarks.

Also, while I’m talking about the election, which I’ve been following avidly, I’d just like to point out how quickly Obama’s organization has responded to this. McCain slipped up yesterday, I got this ad in an email from the campaign today. Talk about rapid response. McCain can’t rapidly respond to a question about his own financial life. If you want evidence of who will be a better head of the executive branch of our government look at how Obama is executing strategy for his campaign. A short list: A) record number of small, non-special interest donations due to excellent internet fund-raising B) volunteers on the ground in fifty states opening fights in places McCain thought he was safe and bleeding his already poorly organized resources C) the rapid and pointed response to this opportunity. Contrast this to Hillary’s campaign which was top-down, rife with infighting and only stayed afloat due to her own cash injections which she’s now taking a huge loss on and (sorry Clintonites) but you see who is ready to lead on day one.

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Domingo Garcia Henriquez

-Tatico-

Despues que Dios hizo el mundo noto’ que se le olvidaba algo, entoces hizo las manos de Tatico

1943-1976

After God made the world, he noticed he forgot something- then he made Tatico’s hands

I’ve been out hunting in Washington Heights a couple times this year searching for tunes and source material in what’s left of the mixtape shops up there – damned internet.

On my first trip, I trekked uptown with Rupture on a Perico Ripiao re-con mission. The dealers will usually let you decide whether you want the original or the cd-r so you can really rack up at some of these spots. That trip was my first time hearing el fuego improvisado that is Tatico Henriquez.

I feel totally robbed that I didn’t hear this guy growing up on the island next door. At first listen, he is an artist that draws from the listener a sense of appreciation for his contribution not only to music but to his culture. I’ll see your cotton candy pop star and raise you one jibaro de campo and a bag of plantain chips.

Here’s the story of the chunky hick that comes down from the back woods with his accordion, lucky to get paid free food and rum, who completely changed the music game in DR and raised the stakes for merengue players from making 100 dollars to play a bar to making 3-5 thousand dollars a night. He also accredited as one of the earliest latin musicians to have crossed over and played in America.

After years of tagging along behind the best accordion players on the island, guys like Matoncito and Nicolora who’s names are only carried on the lips of camperos. He learned their old songs and in later years there was some controversy over the authorship credits of some of his interpretations. Copyright issues aside, should we not merit him for capturing and rescuing this music before it was lost? What he eventually developed was a sound of his own adding the first electric bass and congas to the genre. He would play shows from seven to eight hours long shredding on his two-row diatonic accordion tuned to the key of A instead of C like all other accordions. He did this to match the key he sang in making the interplay of his voice and his instrument sync.

Then there’s the fact he’s often just improvising the lyrics. How many people do you know that can freestyle and play instrument and sound ill at both? To me that’s genius level shit on par with folks like D’Angelo, Meshell Ndegeocello. Add to that a sweet voice, the g-suave charisma plus success element and what you get is jokes from his widow about women leaving their husbands on the dancefloor and go home with this guy.

The sound he unleashed via shows and his two hour weekly show on Radio Naguas spread all over the Dominican Republic. 30 years past his death he remains to this day one of the most requested artists on merengue tipico stations out there. He died in a car crash in 1976 and what they showed of the wreckage was a gnarled Caddy that resembled a plane crash. Tatico was Buddy Holly. Tatico was Kurt Cobain. Another one gone way too soon. He should be celebrated like Tito or Celia as one of the great contributors to latin music.

Large up to the folks over at the Merenyola website for Merengue Tipico events in NYC and for putting up this one hour documentary on youtube.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gGKpBzN2bR8&feature=related[/youtube]

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