The Day I Met Lupe Fiasco...

Honestly, I don't remember the season.

I think it was either Spring or Fall because I was wearing my suit coat. Manhattan summers are too muggy to rock extra layers. You see, The Company Man sweats. And 80 degrees, concrete, and car exhaust are Kryptonite to my Cool (pun intended).

Lets say it was Spring. I like Spring.

Don't ask me 'which day of the week?'

So, coming out of the FYE that used to be on 51st and 6th, I turned the corner to head back to the office. I looked up, and there was Carrera Lu standing right there outside the store!

Its like...the organized confusion of midday midtown froze suddenly. Everything slowed like that first time Neo dodged bullets in the Matrix part one. I didn't see anything else. I didn't see anyone else. I could've been in Brooklyn for all I knew. My senses were f*cked.

And not on some 'Stan' shit.

On some Respect shit.

Meeting Lupe now (err...then) is like meeting greatness just before universal acclaim (despite his ever expanding fan base, Lu still has his detractors. We're certainly not all in agreement on the wallpaper. not yet anyway). Its like meeting Michael in '76 or Jordan in '86 (less the notoriety). Its like meeting Ra fresh off Paid In Full. Nas fresh off Illmatic. Its like meeting the defining talent of any generation, in any genre of any industry, anywhere. At least to me.

And I was shook. I admit it.

I admit it.

To come within a clear twenty feet of someone you genuinely respect and admire as an artist (genuinely in the strictest sense of the word, artist in its most complimentary) is not a common occurrence. And when it does happen, no one wants to come across as another rambling fan seeking an autograph (I only had the Blu & Exile receipt on me anyhow). But at the same time, I wasn't about to let this moment pass without saying something! So I walked up to him:

TCM: "Yooo! Lupe, whats up?? My names 'J' and I respect what you do, kid. Keep doing what you do." That felt corny. Did I just say that???

Turning to the familiar looking cat perched against FYE's window:

TCM: "Is this your hypeman? Whats up, homie? You're a good hypeman."

My fractured senses were still trying to put everything into perspective.

Who is that curly haired guy over my left shoulder? Is he holding a camera?? Damn, its hot. Am I really talking to Lupe??? I'm really talking to Lupe...Focus...Focus...woo-saa

Lupe: "Thanks man. I appreciate that. Make sure you pick up The Cool on December 18th."
TCM: "Oh no doubt! Wait. Are you sure its coming out then? Because I remember back when it was supposed to drop in November..."
Lupe: "Yeah. Nah, its coming out December 18th. Thats the date."
TCM: "Thats whats up. I was disappointed you didn't show up at the Allhiphop.com Week show at the Nokia too."
Lupe: "Aw man...see what happened is that they thought I was performing at the show, but they never confirmed the event. And I had a show in Japan that day..."
TCM: "Ahh...i hear that. Well Lupe, keep doing what you do. I gotta get back to work."
Lupe: "Aight, thanks man."

Instantly, life unpaused. Snapped back to reality...ups, there goes gravity.

As clarity kicked in, I remembered that Atlantic Records' headquarters is right next to FYE and figured Lupe must've been in town for meetings since he didn't have any shows scheduled. Why didn't I ask him why he was in town? Or whens his next NYC show?

I remembered that the familiar cat perched against the window was in fact Bishop G, and that he's much more than just a hypeman. Did I really tell Bishop G that he's a 'good hypeman???'

Most regrettably, I remembered all of the things that I always wanted to ask Lu, all the things I wanted to tell him. I wanted to ask him about Fahrenheit 115, and what was going though his mind when he created "Switch" and "Much More" and 'Lupe The Killer?'" I wanted to ask him about his inspirations and why It Was Written was so influential, and when will he finally lace a track with Nasty Nas? I wanted to ask him what if felt like immediately after 'Presure' was complete and that moment he realized that he roasted Jay-Z?? I wanted to know if he ever thinks about how he'll handle the first time a credible rapper challenges him publicly? It happens to every Emcee. Is he battle ready???

And more personally, I wanted to tell him that the reason this site even exists is because of his music. I wanted to tell him how my back-in-the-day-daily email blasts to everyone in my address book exhaulting the lyrical genius from the Westside of Chicago evolved into The Quotable. And that those conversations helped me realize that journalism is what I want to do when I grow up.

I wanted to press 'Rewind' and run it all back to the beginning. I wanted a 'do-over.'

But it was too late.

I was already half a block away. Turning around now and running up to him again would have felt awkward and dry-stalkish.

So I kept it moving - right past the CBS building on my right and that fly, Laura London-looking shorty in the black camise and black ruffled skirt twirking by on my left.

Matter of fact...It was Summer.

And I left my suit coat in the office.

Carry on..

Resolution #16: Stop Comparing Other Rappers to Lupe Fiasco

I had to do it.

It had to be done.

You see, ever since he forced me to guess 'who's on third?,' my intrigue and admiration for L-U-P-Emperor sprinted past 'homie's nice' straight to 'Homie's the greatest!' at break-neck-speed. I don't remember exactly when it happened. All I know is somewhere between "Can't see me like B.I.G. on CMT" and those perfectly delivered, boxing/shoplifting analogies on the sublime "Much More," I had a brand new best-to-ever-do-it.

From then on, my iPod was pretty much all Lupe all the time. Relating to him. Learning from his content. Looking for flaws. Deciphering metaphors. Admiring the dexterity, the originality. I even started putting him into head-to-head playlist battles with lyrical greats and legendary albums. F&L vs It Was Written. Fahrenheit 115 vs The Blueprint. The Cool vs Capital Punishment. No matter the combination, like Mike in his prime, Lu couldn't be beat.

My cousin Sha calls it a "corner" - that point in time when everyone is doing one thing, then something powerful comes along, and everyone changes direction and follows the leader. Rakim was a corner. Nas was a corner. Before them, heads didn't rhyme like them. They were what he is, "something new, something fresh, something different." After them, everyone was forced to build their skills. Lupe is that next corner...and not-so-coincidentally rap is moving back to the lyrics.

But problems emerged when I realized that I was so immersed in this murk that I couldn't appreciate other artists in the same way.

Great artists.

Former favorite artists.

No matter who it was, no one was exempt. If "Dear Summer" came on, I wished it was "Dear Fall." If "Diamonds are Forever" played, I rapped the words to "Conflict Diamonds." "Thief's Theme," "Hip Hop is Dead?" - give me "Twilight Zone." Biggie didn't feel as BIG. Jay's flow wasn't as effortless. Nas sounded surpassed. It got so bad that even when I heard a track that Lupe wasn't on and never remixed, I still wondered how he would've approached it (think about what Lu couldve done with "I Get Money"). No one compared. Nothing could compete. Oddly enough, for me, the ultimate Emcee was killing the art of MCing.

So I dropped Resolution #16 in early 2008 in an attempt to regain some semblance of balance to the force. And although the galaxy is still grossly tilted in favor of Mr. Cornell Westside, at least I'm back to appreciating other artists.

Who cares if they're only fighting for second place?

Carry on...

Bill O'Reilly Blasts Jay-Z, Young Jeezy

Now, I normally bypass Bill O'Reilly at all costs. Can't pump the breaks for racism. No thanks. No time.

Keep it moving.

But after observing Dennis Miller's cynical-simple-mindedness here (hearing him rant about the impossibility of wind and solar power is like listening to some of history's most progressive thinkers. You know, minds like Robert E. Lee, and those who said Man will never be able to sell bottled water. Seriously, he was probably the guy clutching his type-writer while the rest of the world logged-on. And referring to the President of the United States as 'my man' is blatantly disrepectful to the office. But no one ever accused Fox News of being a classy organization. I'm not feeling the Wolverine look either. Fire your stylist, Dennis. Its a recession. No one will blame you), I couldn't help but wonder what these guys are like off camera. Do they truly live the pseudo-reality they pimp too their Right-wing viewership? Or are they just trying to get that red-neck money?

Maybe they're more like this:

NOTORIOUSLY SUSPECT

Although an enjoyable watch, I can't help but wish NOTORIOUS dove deeper into the Era and the Emcee rather than simply a one-sided, surface level rehash of the most public events surrounding the life and death of the Notorious B.I.G.

The basics are all there. Young Christopher Wallace from Bedstuy Brooklyn succumbs to 'allure'. Starts slangin. Gets bagged. Starts rhymin. Bangs Lil' Kim. Raps to stardom. Marries Faith. Beefs with Tupac. East Coast. West Coast. West Coast. East Coast. Pac dies. BIG dies. Puffy wins.

Catering to young and casual fans, NOTORIOUS fails to go much farther into BIG's psyche and motivations than his albums or magazine articles.
Theres nothing new here.

Theres a slant there.

Puff and Faith come away looking like the ambitious savior ("Come on yall, we gotta rise above this." "In order to save the world, first you gotta save yourself") and the love-scorned-superwoman. Lil Cease is relegated to weed carrier. And according to this film, Lil' Kim was slightly more than a talented jump-off. No wonder she was pissed about the final cut. There was much more there than that.

And, yeah, Biggie bum-rushed the game.

No doubt.

But Wu-Tang and Nas were equally huge (if not...huger?) at that time. On Only Built For Cuban Links, Ghostface screamed on Bad Boy for biting Nas's Illmatic album cover for Ready To Die[1] . 'Pac referenced Nas as the 'alleged ring leader' on the "Bomb First" intro on Makaveli. And supposedly BIG's "Kick In The Door" was directed square at the Queenbridge Emcee. Brooklyn was behind B.I.G. from the beginning. But New York was divided. The sharks were circling each other. The fact that neither The Wu nor Nasir received a subtle mention is suspect.

And where was Jay-Z??? We need Jay-Z!!!

Instead, we get to watch Bad Boy Entertainment further cement Biggie's legacy (as they tell it) into pop culture and Hip Hop lore.

He who wins the war...writes the history.

[1] Dead serious quote from the sadly under-educated teenager three seats down from my homie Sean P during the scene when Biggie's in his mother's kitchen holding his baby daughter: "Oohh...yall, thats the baby from the album cover." Sean P: "Yeah...like that baby is suspended in time."




Carry on....

Johnny Voltik - Now You Know About It

"I'm on the line between graffiti and calligraphy" - "Break Something"


Vintage yet Fresh. Style yet Wild Style. Beanie Seigel yet Basquait. He's "on the line between graffiti and calligraphy." 'He' being Johnny Voltik. And Johnny Voltik is NICE.

Weilding a mic and a guitar[1], Connecticut-born, Brooklyn resident Johnny Voltik meshes minimalist, snare-heavy, boom-bap production with trippy, pyschedelic strings over a soulful soundscape. Think Are You Experienced meets Criminal Minded - popular sounding without sounding Pop. Laced with head-nod enducing beats and infectious melodies, his latest mixtape, Missile Factory Mixtape Vol. 2, is diverse, untiring, and unapologetic. Sure, homie gets his croon on here and there, but don't be mistaken - Johnny Voltik is an Emcee. And watch out when he busts...its like gettin' hit by a bus.

"I be rockin' without a care. / Black bourgeoisie? / Geez. / I'm like laisse faire. / Heads get mad like 'why's he here?' / Approaching you like your dad like 'why were you there?' / Smack you up like your mom like 'whats wrong with your hair?' / [Now you're] Cryin' to your grandmom like 'its not fair!" - "Zombie"

But the quality of Voltik's live show is what separates him from the lames. Rockin' with his four-piece band, The Blackbirds, Johnny Vo commands a bum-rushing set loaded with energy, crowd participatation and lyrical dexterity. Its attention-snatching. Eye-clutching. Its as if he understands what it means to be an MC[2]. But don't just take our word for it. Judge for yourself.

Catch Johnny Voltik & The Blackbirds on Sunday, January 11th @ The Annex on Lower East Side...

...or hit him on his myspace page http://www.myspace.com/alphalove.

"You ain't know about it. / Now you know about it..." - "The Illustrious"

"The Illustrious"

"Open"

"Zombie"


[1] Thankfully, Johnny Vo stays away from the Rock-Rap-Trap. Sure, sometimes it comes out legit (The Roots, Kid Rock). But most times its straight toilet paper - covered in shit (Limp Bizkit, Everlast).
[2] I had a pretty dope interview with Johnny Vo following last month's Missile Factory Mixtape Release showcase, but iPod#3 finally crashed taking the entire session with it. Its like they build these things to last a maximum 0f 2years. Once again, Chris Rock is correct - the moneys' on the comeback. No worries Quotable Nation...The Company Man will do his best to re-up on Tuesday following his next show. Bet.

Carry on...