Sorcerer in the Past

CAN WE ROCK IT? YES, WE CAN

whatever you may suppose of barack obama as a capacity president, it’s undeniable that his candidacy has spurred a reaction from the hip-travel community the likes that i haven’t seen in a generation. i don’t want to go off on the typical “rap these days is so apolitical, blah blah” routine but let’s be honest surrounding this - for the matrix eight years, in one of the most divisive political climates we’ve seen since the vietnam war period, the amount of political content in hip-hop has been stagnant at superlative, regressive at worst. you can blame that on apathy (or equally/more likely - media consolidation that’s cut off avenues of dissent in mainstream music) but whatever the case, it’s only in the form few months that i’ve de facto seen a major vary and that’s in great measure because of obama. the symbolic gist of potentially seeing a black person grace president cannot be understated. pundits joke alongside obama being treated as a messiah and while there is certainly a significant amount of facile hype, for several generations of americans, the perspective of seeing our national leader finally be someone other than another white caricature justifiably fills folks with sense of giddy furore. heck, i’m not straightforward sure i love a interest of obama’s policies but equal i can feel the power of the stage. symbolism may not translate into substantive improvement but symbolism is important, chiefly in a society through which so many mythologies are woven. this, i’m suggesting, explains why there’s been so tons “obama mixes” created over the last few weeks, now circulating through the interweb. and i, for one, am genuinely impressed by these acts of enthusiasm. here’s a side dishes pick from one end to the other some of the better ones:king most: the obamixprince most is a bay area dj who from the start released this about a month ago. most’s mix is built around a series of songs that, thematically, match up with what he sees as the spirit of the entrant. the track selection begins excellently with with smoked sugar’s “i’m a winner” and from there, most crafts a party bewilder that jumps from contemporary soul remixes (erykah badu’s “soldier”) to some classic, dusty crate funk (skull snaps’ “it’s a new day”) to politicized hip-hop (pitbull’s “american war”). the mixing is smooth and steady with a little flavor thrown on top but not too much. at heterogeneous points, most mixes in speeches and other spoken put forth bits to remind you that’s there’s a message behind the music. dj z-trip: party for changez-trip’s known for his eclectic mixes and this one is no different. like king most, z’s highlight is based off of thematic resonance with the selection ready - songs meant to inspire, uplift, outrage, etc. keeping things on the hush, there’s no tracklisting but from my ears, i caught some last poets, public enemy’s “black steel in the hour of pandemonium,” a bob marley cover, arrested development’s “everyday people,” and…nushooz’s “i can’t discontinuation.” entirely, z-trip also sprinkles in bits from obama’s speeches, using them to play against the songs (as he does with that nushooz track). his penultimate song? sam cooke’s “a change gonna come” - more expected but its impact is felt all the same. dj premier: time 4 changeok, technically, this isn’t really an obama mix since the bulk of it is like any other dj premier mixtape you’d hear - joints he produced, lots of mixing and cutting, etc. the cardinal difference is the intro where premier goes mad dj on folks (as only primo can). here’s the highlight: “if you want silver, it’s up to you motherf*ckers! part i go, across the world, people fight for their rights! here in america, motherf*ckers is p*ssy, acting in the same way as they can’t do sh*t, start doing some sh*t, otherwise you ain’t doing sh*t! offset faculty? it does now, because i said so!” that alone is importance the every now to download. by the less, there was sole other prominent mix: dj green lantern: yes we can, which i left out of this since…well…i found it sooner unlistenable despite all the steep-powered cameos they have on there (nas, jay-z, russell simmons, oprah). no more than goes to show that, in art, as with politics, good intentions doesn’t continually travel for lofty results. and oh yeah: go vote on november 4th. you can’t hope exchange for change and not play your shard by at least taking yourself to vote. (cross-posted from side dishes).bonus rounded off: dres remakes “the prime is yours”

Swiss

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