we graduated high school in 1998. our “grad” (that’s Canadian for “prom”), was held at a now defunct downtown bar called “the panther club”. it was an upscale hoochie bar that would have normally been completely off our radar. being the alternative kids in our graduating class (read: not a part of the ruling popular majority), we ended up skulking and hiding in the club’s shadows. our more popular peers danced (grinded, had battles) on the dance floor and the big hits of that year; ‘mo money mo problems’ by notorious b.i.g., ‘i’ll be missing you’ by p. diddy and ‘ghetto superstar’ by pras, were big winners that night. hip hop and r&b was so popular at our school and in our neighborhood, that even though i was completely immersed in the punk/rock scene of the late 90’s, that music still found its way into our world easily. i still find myself side swiped by nostalgia every time i hear any of those songs.
why, you ask, do i write about this now!?
WELL. a lot of my favorite records and artists over the last ten years have been hip hop and r&b. in some ways it’s the music that inspires me most, and also helps me find inspiration as well as act as a palate cleanser of sorts. sometimes i hear guitars, amps, dense-vague-subtle indie rock and my brain shuts up like a vault. it’s important that i have music and art to feed off, especially when its music that seemingly does something entirely different than what i (we) do, in order to remain excited about making music myself!
it’s been a secret dream of mine to sing on a hip hop track, something where i could use a different voice, different spirit. i was so delighted/excited/freaked out when i got an opportunity to do exactly that with the phenomenal theophilus london! you can grab the track now here: http://theophiluslondon.net/
and be sure to get his record, lovers holiday on february 8th!
that’s all for now!
skq
