research&development

Greetings. In this first issue and first edition, we’re starting with the prolific album Illmatic by Nas, produced by the great Dj Premier. This is from “Halftime”.

I got to have it I miss Mr. Magic
Versatile, my style switches like a faggot
But not bisexual I’m an intellectual
Of rap, I’m a professional and that’s no question, yo.

What’s no question, yo, is the fact that Nas, with rhymes like “(I) switch like a faggot, but not bisexual I’m an intellectual”, is as much an intellectual as the crack pipe he was smoking when he thought to himself “yeah, yeah – that’ll work!”

Next up: Scribe, this is from his breakthrough track Not Many

Check, check to tha mic check, a 1, 2 from a crew commin' through, are ya hyped yet, nowa days every body wanna talk, like they got something on scribe, ya ain't got nothing but a moment alive, you can't front, when ya feellin' tha vibe, you know scribe is takin' you high (high), love it with the double bass, vibrate, shook tha place, in ya vertebrate, yo hit a man, move like a RS, Subaru, with a crew, come a equipped, like a body kit, lyrically I burn quick, so one foot is in tha style, through his tongue like a steel fish, this kid named X, from Vic, wanna get, with scribe, in live, like a 0-5, I got vibe, like a beehive, and when the mother from the squid of a pimp, of tha sea side, and get yo on the way that we ride, round town in tha down low, never know, what the flow, bro, chop chop, cant stop hip hop, cause it don't stop hmm check it out!!!!! (Yes) check it out (No) check it out... (What) check it out... (Like me)

“… the mother of a squid of a pimp…”
What is this guy talking about? Scribe says in an interview with Dolly, “I do write all of my own songs. I draw on a lot of personal experiences. When I write songs, I try to come up with the concept before I write the song, and I draw on things I’ve been through, and if I'm mad about something it can encourage me to write a song about whatever it is I'm mad about, or if I'm really happy.” What, then, was the personal experience involving a squid? Or, the squids mother? Or the pimp, to which the squid presumably belongs? Not many dudes, thankfully, flow like that.

If you’re anything like me you’ll be getting sick of the endless articles on M.I.A. claiming she’s the “pop renegade” or a “coup for popular culture” or, better, an “antidote to Western propaganda”. With lyrics like:

Slam Galang galang galang Ga la ga la ga la Lang gang lang ga lang (Galang 2005)

...yeah, she’s a real Noam Chomsky. Journalist Cylcone gets bonus points for these quotes in Inpress 25/01/06.

“…she licensed music to a Honda Civic commercial.”

Then, next passage:

“fans worry that… MIA could sell out. Her supporters have nothing to fear.”

Sounds more like: Missing In Articulation.

While I’m on a roll: check this little one out. This time it’s Beat mag (28/06/06), and a little section they do called “Profile” where a club night is profiled. This one is for Fckmondays (great name) at the Saint.

• Three records that’ll rock the floor: Feelings Don’t Stop by Ammo & Navas, any remix by Seb Leger, H-Mann, Switch, Eyerer & Chopstick and anything by T-Rek will do.

Not exactly three records, but anyway, here’s the next bit:

• And the one you’d rather die than play: The one that goes fuck house, fuck disco, fuck breaks, fuck electro!

Wicked guys, that track is actually a T-Rek song. Admittedly, this may be your sophisticated sense of humour – but either way it’s good to see a local lad getting so much support.

But that’s not it from Beat. In the same issue, pg 17 sees a wonderful piece from Shaun Topp interviewing Mishel Bitton.

“Mishel Bitton is 28 years of age and ridiculously talented…”
“…The remarkable thing isn’t that he’s managed to achieve this level of talent…”
“Mishel makes most musicians jealous.”
“Mishel grew up with an array of eclectic and unlikely influences, something that has helped his music to be so original and groundbreaking"

ENOUGH! I can’t take it anymore! Who the fuck is Mishel Bitton?!