Freebacon New Year, Everyone!

This sign gives me hope. All the best to you n' yours in 2009.

Merry Christmas, y'all.

Be safe, be sexy.

Grant me just these three, a'ight?

In an effort to ensure irritant-free rap listening in 2009*, I made this lil' ol' list.**

1. "Ch__ky-eyed". I remember hearing this in a rhyme several years ago, and I blanched. I seem to be hearing it with alarming frequency nowadays. Seriously, there are a billion ways to say "I'm high", and you pick this one? If you're the type that says this, don't be surprised if I yakuza kick you in the face if I see you in the street.***
2. "swallow my kids/children". Look, I know a lot of you emcees enjoy being "gutta" or "gully", or whatever the fuck is fashionable for "nasty", but there's no reason to sully something as lovely as oral gratification. I'm still reeling from the advent of "gettin' brain". Assholes.
3. Excessive producer shout-outs. Hey, I know kids don't give a fuck about liner notes like I did (and still do), but beatmaker acknowledgments of the "(producer's name), you (mental ailment) for this one!" variety have got to stop, because they're so incredibly played. Like, work his name nicely into the chorus or something. Subtlety is everything. I ain't too crazy about fake banter from the booth between the rapper and those behind the boards, either. Keep that shit genuine.

There are a couple of things I should mention, too, but I don't want this to be a giant bitchfest. All I'm saying is that autotuning has worn out its welcome (thanks for the reminder, DD. Vocoders and talkboxes are dope, though – R.I.P. Roger Troutman.), and hating on gay folks makes you look like a closet case, not to mention, stupid. (ain't that right, Trick Trick?)****.

* This was done with tongue firmly planted in cheek. To expect change would be silly.
** Props must be given to Matt Groening and his "forbidden words" list in Life in Hell/Life is Swell.
*** I'm not a violent person, so this won't actually happen. You can picture that shit, though, right?
**** By linking that story, I'm adding to the giant pile of comments/pingbacks at allhiphop.com. Let it be said here that I'm not in need of drama, so you can keep any hateful comments to yourself. Thanks.

Blockhead on Lil' Wayne

This is over a week old, but I had to acknowledge this. Producer Blockhead (Aesop Rock) wrote an even-handed, yet damning blog post on the appeal of Lil' Wayne. I can't help but agree with a good chunk of it, really. I understand why he's popular, and it took me a while to figure that out, but the jocking from folks that love the great lyricists has had me perplexed at times.
Sweeping Generalizations with Blockhead: Get Off Lil Wayne's D*@&

Random Thoughts: December 15th, 2008

Shot on my way to work, November 26th.

• Howdy. How you doin'? I see you've been taking care of yourself. Props. Work out like crazy, but don't you dare lose that fine ass of yours.
• Lists. It's that year-end shit again. I'm still debating about how many albums are going to be on my list, and why I feel compelled to make one. Admittedly, this will give me a chance to look back at the stuff I bought this year and see which titles truly stuck with me. Having an iPod has definitely changed how I listen to stuff, although, I'll still listen to an album in a linear fashion, and that's on any format. That'll probably never change, except when it comes to a really spotty album.
  Of course, my other list will contain my resolutions, which are never too lofty to break.
• The Polar Express. I was at my brother and sister-in-law's house watching this on CBC while helping decorate their tree. While there was some terrific imagery in this, I think it's a good time to point out a two part review that fellow blogger Ward Jenkins posted four years ago (which got him a ton of attention).
  The Polar Express: A Virtual Train Wreck
  The Polar Express: A Vitrual Train Wreck (conclusion)
• Strong-ass inertia. Yeah, I'm behind. I'ma get back on that horse. Shut up. The War of Art has been recommended to me, and I'm looking into gettin' a copy.
• Blu. I really don't know why I slept on this dude last year. I was at a new year's house party when my homie Jared mentioned his debut album with Exile titled Below the Heavens. I told him that I saw a number of reviews, but didn't go beyond looking at those.
  Several months later, I discovered the HVW8 podcast and found myself stuck to an episode of hosted by Blu and Exile full of demos, finished tracks, exclusives and Blu's hungover charm.
  Fast forward to last month, and this post at UGSMAG about Blu's new project (with Mainframe) called Johnson & Jonson. I instantly became enamored with the song and the fun, laid-back vibe of the video. It's truly been a long time since I've heard an emcee come off so raw and smooth at the same time.
  
  
  (Folks on facebook, go to the high quality version of the vid here.)
  
  I'm quite confident that Johnson & Jonson self-titled album would end up on my "best of" list, if I actually had said album in my hands. Hell, I'll put it on next year's. I can do that.
• Bed. That's where I'm goin'. Peace.
  

Wedding Photos?

Yeah, we've got those. Many, many thanks to Rachael of luckygirl.ca. If you're smart, you'll get your wedding photos done by her.

DDC Stuff

I ordered a hat and a shirt from DDC and got all this cool stuff with my purchase. You need to give Aaron money. Check out his merch and see if you can resist temptation.

Died Young, Stayed Pretty

Local poster nerds: Died Young, Stayed Pretty, Eileen Yaghoobian's documentary about gigposters and the people that make 'em will be screening at Cinematheque tomorrow at 9. Needless to say, I'm looking forward to this. Here's the trailer:

On track.

I'm not, at the moment. The Daily Inertia Fighter shall return shortly. In the meantime, I've got a ton of photos for you to look at. Fellow RRC grads, take a look at how I used to do my thing.