Ty Watches "Holy Calamavote"

I watched the Run the Jewels show that they did on Adult Swim this weekend, "Holy Calamavote", this afternoon, and it was amazing.

This was the first, and only time, they will perform this album live this year. They had a planned tour, supporting Rage Against the Machine, but the pandemic put a total halt to that. I read things where RTJ was trying to do something like this, a live performance, but didn't have a platform, or felt comfortable enough to do it. Then Adult Swim and Ben and Jerry's got involved, and they had their chance. They got tested, quarantined for the allotted time, and were able to pull off this show. They also wanted it to be important, to take a stance and help people, and they used the platform to urge people to go out and vote. This show was put together to promote voting. They mentioned time and again how important it is, especially this year, to go out and vote. Our vote is our weapon, and that is the only way we can make things change. They put that front and center.

As for the performance, I mean come on, these guys are at the top of the game right now. They are the best rap group, and best overall group, making music right now. Not only is the music good, it is well made, important, personal and an absolute reflection of the world we live in right now. I have sung the praises of this most recent RTJ record to the high hills. This is the record of the year by a mile, and this performance only further proved that. They were awesome. The visuals were amazing. The guest list was top notch. And seeing Killer Mike and El-P perform this record live, it was so god damn amazing and impressive. They did each song, in order, from the new record. Eric Andre hosted the show, and they would cut to him from time to time, but this was all about RTJ and their music. All the songs were great, and hearing them live just adds so much more to the listening experience. DJ Nice was on stage with them during "Ooh LA LA". That was pretty cool. A famous Atlanta DJ came out and scratched during a song. Gangsta Boo came out during "Walking in the Snow", and that was a transcendent performance. I mean, the song started with that heavy guitar, and El did his verse, and then it was Killer Mike's turn. He smashed the first part, and when he got to the "I can't breath" part, the whole stage and group went silent, and then Killer Mike ended that verse acapella. It was powerful and moving and made me listen more than I ever had before to what he is saying in what I consider to be the song of the year, and possibly the generation. It was an astonishing performance. They did "JU$T" after that, and Pharrell and Zack de la Rocha did their spots. Josh Homme and Mavis Staples appeared on screen for the song they are featured on as well. Staples' voice was beautiful and haunting. They ended the show with "A Few Words for the Firing Squad", and to see the two of them bear their souls was so, so great. It was such a moving and cool and fierce and awesome and perfect way to present that song. When they were nearing the end, when the song is all horns, both members expressed the importance of voting and using our voices this election. Then El-P formed a fist and Killer Mike formed a gun to make the RTJ symbol, and the lights were on their hands only. It was so god damn cool. They proceeded to leave the stage with the secret ending that shows up at the end of "Firing Squad", and El grabbed his stuff, and both he and Killer Mike put on a mask and drove off in Killer Mike's car. They came back on to again express the importance of voting. It was truly wonderful. The show was cool, the visuals added so much, El-P and Killer Mike are damn fine performers, their music is important , the people filming were masked and kept their distance, all the while getting amazing shots, it was simply perfect.

I loved this so very much. It gave me so much of what I have missed this year. I got to see my favorite band perform live. I was moved to vote more so than I already am. I have even more respect for Michael Render and Jamie Melina, which I didn't know was possible. I got to vibe out to the best record of the year. And they did it all for a great cause. I highly recommend this special for everyone. It is available to watch everywhere, it is as live as we will get this year and it is the best music you will hear all year. Please watch and make a plan to vote. 

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast.

Come and support Ty and the podcast on Patreon.

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"RTJ4" Breakdown: Day 2

Okay, so the next 3 songs I'm going to talk about off "RTJ 4" run the gamut of greatness, importance, revolutionary and may be the best three song sequence I have ever heard on a record in my lifetime. These songs are going to go down in history. Especially the first one I'm going to speak on, "Walking in the Snow".

“Walking in the Snow” is the anthem for the current mode of society. This song speaks so many truths it is insane. The fact that this was written well before what is currently going on in the country involving the police is foreboding. It has some "Simpsons" type vibe to it as in predicting the future. The song starts off with a very cool, very distorted guitar. Then it shifts right into verse one, and El-P crushes. He is so good at talking about how bad the world is. How people are treated unfairly because of their place in the world. He says so many things that I agree and can relate with. Throw in the fact that Gangsta Boo is doing the chorus, it makes this song great. What makes this song legendary, historic and profound is Killer Mike's verse. The way he breaks down school scores in world wide testing is perfect. When he then shifts to this is how they predict what prisons will be like in the future, I swear to goodness he is an oracle. He then hits us with the verse where he talks about a police officer choking him out until he says, "I can' breathe", it took my breath away in the best, and most prolific way I have ever been through when listening to music. To then follow it up saying the best it will get out of people is a Twitter rant and people talking for a week, then just forgetting about it, I don't know if a truer statement has been made in music. Both come back with minor verses to close out the song, and I love what Gangsta Boo does at the end. But, "Walking in the Snow" is going to become the anthem for the time. It will be our new "Fuck tha Police", our new "Fight the Power", our new protest anthem for decades to come. This song was a vision of the future when they wrote it around two years ago, and to hear it now, it brings a shiver down my spine by how accurate it is. It is, without a doubt, the most important song on the record, and might be, scratch that, is the most important song of the year, and possibly decade.

They follow that up with "JU$T", which features Zack de la Rocha and Pharrell Williams. This song is a perfect encapsulation of people trying to make money off their image, but being controlled by the government and the powers that be. Killer Mike mentions all this in the first verse. He also does it later in the song when he talks about telling us to "Kill Your Masters", which is also a great, important song. Pharrel Williams is fantastic on the chorus. The things he says are so true, and the way it is put out there is perfect. El-P then comes in and reiterates what Killer Mike says, but puts his wonderful spin on current affairs. He is a great, great writer. Add that to his production, the guy is a genius. His comedy line at the end of his verse is dope as hell too. Then de la Rocha comes in and spits straight fire like he has always done. His verse is brutal, he rips everyone and the verse apart. I love the distortion he uses on the mic too, that is kind of his signature. When he teams up with RTJ, it is going to work no matter what. When the three of them are together on a track, that is what gives me my most visceral moments when I listen. I yell out in my car, or on my runs whenever I hear the three of them trade verses. It is true beauty.

"Never Look Back" is RTJ at their bleakest on this record, but they do that better than anyone. This song is all about not dealing with the BS, at least for me. They both had rough childhoods it sounds, but they are pushing ahead and trying to right their wrongs. This song is kind of like them growing up on the mic. It is really cool to hear them talk about personal experiences, and how they have grown from them. I like when artists bare themselves on tracks like this. They also slow this one down a bit in the middle, but come back with a vengeance, and of course it works. When El-P comes back in after the little slow down, and he and Killer Mike trade words and verses, it is such a great way to close out this near perfect track.

These three songs are some of the best songs, in any genre of music, that I have heard in quite some time. This is the point in some records where it might drag. But "RTJ 4" is different. They take this time to really push their message out there. They let it all out on these three songs, and like I said at the top, these songs are going to go down in history as three of the most important songs in music history. I do want to single out "Walking in the Snow" one more time. That song will be talked about forever. I feel like my son will be talking about it when he is my age. It has that kind of staying power. This run of songs only solidifies how perfect "RTJ 4" truly is.

This is one of the best runs of songs on an album of all time. This is like what The Beatles did on "Abbey Road". I'm not joking, and that is the highest of high compliments from someone like me. These songs are perfect. 

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast.

Come and support Ty and the podcast on Patreon.

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Ty Watches Run the Jewels "Ooh LA LA"

Awhile back Run the Jewels released two new tracks from their upcoming album, "Ooh LA LA" and "Yankee and the Brave". I wrote about how much I loved the songs, and how they both got me very excited for the new record.

Well, two days ago they released a video for "Ooh LA LA", and that just amped up my want for the new record about a thousand times more. The video is dope as hell. It is so cool, so timely and has things in it that only a group like RTJ can pull off. The video opens with some writing, which they proclaim to be an ancient proverb, then the line "I need a bottle of Moet....Garcon", attributed to Killer Mike. We go from this to a big intersection in a big city, I want to say LA, but I am not 100 percent sure. From there on out it gets harder and harder and cooler and cooler. EL-P starts the song off with the chorus, then rips into his verse. It is amazing to see visuals added to his verse. The song is, for me, about how greed is crushing us all right now. EL-P explains as much right off the bat. Killer Mike then comes at us extra hard with his verse about expensive food, cameras, everything. By the way, his jackets are rad in this video. I want his colorful Polo jacket. Maybe that is my way of being greedy, and I need to follow the moral of this song instead. Anyway, both have another verse that is dynamite, as I mentioned when I first wrote about the song. But, all the while they are spitting, there are a ton of people just dumping money into a big pile. Just what looks like millions and millions of dollars, and they are setting it all on fire while dancing. It is jarring at first, but when you actually listen to the lyrics, it is perfect.

RTJ has always fought the establishment with their music. They have talked about corporate greed and destruction. My favorite track of theirs, "Kill You Masters/A Message to the Shareholders" is all about that. I look at "Ooh LA LA" as a kind of sequel to that song. And the video only makes my conviction that much firmer. Also, the amount of people they got to do this video is pretty cool. It actually makes me miss hanging out with people that aren't my immediate family. To get all these people together to dump money into piles, burn it and do choreographed dances is pretty rad. Also, Zack de la Rocha is in the video. He doesn't have a verse on the song or anything, he is just there to hang out I guess. I know that they cool with each other, and have worked together in the past, and they were supposed to be touring with Rage Against the Machine right now. But still, the fact that de la Rocha is just in the video to be in it, for me, it proves how much pull RTJ has in the music industry. I also love how goofy and funny both EL-P and Killer Mike are in the video. EL-P is there with his funny grin, holding bottles of champange, and Killer Mike is doing a goofy smile and jumping rope at one point. They clearly had a great time making this video, and it shows. My favorite moment is when they talk about how they don't care what you ordered, they are what you get, and they embrace and smile right into camera. It is awesome. And the ending, with DJ Premiere just spinning, it is awesome. It is a perfect button. He is scratching records, doing the beat of the song, and while he is intently focused, he is throwing money that is blowing on him into the fire as well.

I love this song, and I love the video just as much. I am a big fan of music videos, and I miss seeing them on TV. But, I like that certain groups go out and still do this, and make it viable for fans to watch. I already had made my own opinion about what the song was trying to tell me, and after seeing the video, I am convinced that I was right. If you haven't listened to the song yet, do that first, and then treat yourself to this video. It rules. 

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast.

Come and support Ty and the podcast on Patreon.

Follow Ty on instagram and twitter.

SeedSing is funded by a group of awesome people. Join them by donating to SeedSing.

The Greatest American Band Debate: Run The Jewels

SeedSing is filled with music lovers. We can not agree on who is the best band from the States. The Greatest American Band Debate will be a regular feature where we discuss and compare bands who started in the good old USA. If you have any suggestions of bands we should debate Contact us seedsing.rdk@gmail.com

With the new year here and all of my best of lists done, I'm going to get back to my regular writing schedule. So that means, on Wednesdays, we will be getting back to our greatest American band debate here on SeedSing.

Today I have a newer group, but I feel like they are on their way to superstardom. It's another hip hop group, so get used to me writing about hip hop because it's one of my favorite styles of music and I've been listening to a ton of it lately. The band that I'm going to nominate today has only put out two albums, one in 2013 and the other in 2014, but they are currently working on their third record as we speak. This is a "super group", but it only consists of two rappers. The band I'm speaking of is Run The Jewels.

This group is rad. The members are Killer Mike and EL-P. Killer Mike is part of the dirty south rap movement. I first came to know him from his guest appearances on older Outkast records and the Dungeon Family stuff he did. I was always a fan of his style. He is gruff, disturbing and phenomenal. His rapping is so fast yet so clear, I'm amazed at what he can do with a mic. He is a wizard with words. He has become bigger over the years, stepping away from the Dungeon Family and the Outkast stuff, doing his own solo thing, and that has benefitted him very much. He found his own voice and had crushed on several solo albums, most notably "R.A.P. Music". Killer Mike is a beast. EL-P is a new discovery for me. I had heard his name as a producer when I was in my early twenties, but I had no idea he was a rapper too. The person that introduced me to him rapping was my brother Seth, who's made an appearance on our podcast. He is a great rapper as well. He has a slower delivery, but with his New York accent, it works like a charm. He has a smooth voice and since he's a producer and a beat maker, he has a great ear for making great rap songs. He is a legendary producer, but with Run The Jewels, he can become a legendary rapper. Basically, he's a better version of what Kanye West is doing, but since he isn't married to a reality star, he doesn't get the love he deserves. He gets it from the indie hip hop community, but he needs to be known nationally. EL-P is a great rapper.

The two of these guys got together a couple of years ago and immediately connected. They both like the same style of music and they both have unique styles that, when put together, makes some fantastic music. They couldn't be more different in their deliveries, but it works so well together. In 2013 they released "Run The Jewels". This record is a must have for hip hop fans. It's so good. They open with the title track, "Run The Jewels" and it's a beast of a song. EL-P has the first verse and he crushes. He has that smooth delivery going over a very hypnotic, yet oddly loud beat that works so well. Killer Mike comes in, and even when talking about shooting a poodle, I can't help but nod my head to his lyrics and the beat. This is a great entry way into the world of Run The Jewels. You get both rappers styles and the beats are top notch. The very next track has Killer Mike teaming up with Big Boi, from Outkast, on a song called "Banana Clipper". The great thing about his song, Big Boi only has one verse and it's at the very end. Usually, when you have a guest, they get about half the song. That's not the case on "Banana Clipper". Killer Mike has the first verse, he crushes, EL-P has the second, it's excellent and Big Boi closes the song out with one of his best verses since early Outkast. This is an awesome song. And props to Big Boi for letting EL-P and Killer Mike shine, most big time rappers would want the spotlight, but Big Boi takes a back seat. I like that. They actually close out "Run The Jewels" with a "Christmas" song called, "A Christmas F&^%*&g Miracle". Now, this is by no means "Jingle Bells" or "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas", and it's not meant to be. This is a jokey holiday song that is made awesome by these two kick ass rappers. They even made an ugly sweater that goes along with this song and the sweater is very ugly and very cool.

In 2014 they followed up "Run The Jewels" with "Run The Jewels Volume 2". This is another thing I like about these guys. No pomp and circumstance, no weird album titles with weird album art, just give me the title and the same art and I know exactly what I'm getting. I like that they get straight to the point. This album is just as good as their debut. On "Close Your Eyes(And Count to F&%k)", they are exceptional and it's made better by the reappearance of Zach de la Rocha. Everyone that reads my stuff knows that I'm a Rage Against the Machine fan and I love de la Rocha, he's a legend. He actually does the chorus which is also the beat by saying "run them jewels fast, run them jewels fast, run them, run them, run them f&%k the slow mo" and I was instantly on board when I heard this. This is a lot like "Banana Clipper", with EL-P and Killer Mike getting the first and second verses and de la Rocha closing it out, and it's equally as good, but better in my personal opinion. EL-P and Killer Mike do their thing and de la Rocha absolutely destroys the final verse. It is so good to hear his voice and hear that he is still one of the best rappers/singers/activists out there. He's a monster and I wish he did more music. "Close Your Eyes" is my favorite Run The Jewels song, and it's the one I always listen to first when I put their albums on my iPod. "Jeopardy" is another great tune on the album that lets both guys do what they do best. Killer Mike is there with his super fast, super awesome flow and EL-P produces an excellent beat and gives us that smooth style that we have grown accustomed to.

In my personal opinion, I think they are a better "super group" than Odd Future, and I love Odd Future. They are the best "super group" since the Wu Tang Clan. They only have two guys also, how crazy is that. I've heard that their live shows are phenomenal, and if they come to, or close to Saint Louis, you better believe I'm going to see them. I cannot wait to see what they do for this third album. I know it will be awesome, and hopefully even better than their first two. I know it's hard to put a band in this conversation that has only released two records, but damn it, those records are incredible and these guys belong in our conversation. The future is bright for Run The Jewels.

These guys can become legends.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man podcast. He is currently try to form a supergroup of bad rapping rec center basketball stars. Join his team by following Ty on twitter @tykulik.

The Greatest American Band Debate: Rage Against the Machine

SeedSing is filled with music lovers. We can not agree on who is the best band from the States. The Greatest American Band Debate will be a regular feature where we discuss and compare bands who started in the good old USA. If you have any suggestions of bands we should debate Contact us seedsing.rdk@gmail.com

With our ongoing debate about the greatest American rock bands continuing, I want to talk about one of my personal favorites today, Rage Against the Machine.

I'm a millennial, as most of you know by now, so 80's music wasn't really on my radar until I discovered it at an older age. Nineties music however, that's when I was coming into my own, both as a person and my musical taste. I still remember, albeit vaguely, when MTV still showed music videos and not crappy, mindless reality shows. This was where I would find out about new artists and hear new songs and see new videos of the bands I was beginning to listen to and enjoy. When I first saw a Rage Against the Machine video, or heard one of their songs on the radio, it was hard for me to like because, it was completely different from the version on the record. They used profane lyrics and took very strong political stands, and you can bet, MTV or the radio wasn't in the business of losing out on sponsors, so they edited their music. That was quite a bummer.

 One summer, a great friend of mine, who happens to be one of the biggest Rage Against the Machine fans that I've ever met, let me borrow me his copy of their album, "Evil Empire". I took it from him, begrudgingly, and told him I'd give it another shot, but from what I heard on the radio, I assumed I wasn't going to enjoy the album. He told me to trust him, make sure I didn't listen with my folks because of the profanity and he promised I'd like it. He was 100 percent correct. "Evil Empire" opened me up to a whole new world of some of the best music I'd ever heard. I've always been a fan of rap and hip hop music, so I naturally enjoyed Zack De La Rocha's delivery on the microphone. Throw in Tom Morello's perfect guitar playing and two other decent musicians and I was hooked. The fact that I could hear everything he said and sang was revelatory. No edits, I got all the curse words, which for a 14 year old, was pretty nifty. I didn't understand their political message until I was older, but I'd like to think a part of me at that time agreed with what they were talking about. I know for a fact now that I agree with about 95 percent of their political beliefs.

Back to "Evil Empire". When I first heard "People of the Sun", the opening track, I was sucked right in. Morello's guitar playing on that song, and for that case the whole album, is impeccable. The next track on the record is probably their most famous song, "Bulls on Parade". This song introduced me to a wah wah pedal and I will forever be grateful and indebted to RATM for that. Lyrics like, "rally around the family, with a pocket full of shells" being said over and over again at the end of the song made me feel scared, but in a good way.. The best lyric, and probably my favorite song in RATM's catalog, is "Yeah, I'm walking down Rodeo with a shotgun, these people ain't seen a brown skinned man since they grandparents bought one" from their song "Down Rodeo" is epic on so many levels. De La Rocha calls out a bunch of rich, coddled white kids in a fancy Californian town and claims that their families were garbage people in the past. He is such an awesome and fearless writer. He has no problem calling out anyone anywhere. He's great.

After listening to this record on repeat for about a month straight, I had to get all their other records. Fortunately that was easy for me since they, unfortunately for me, only put out four records. Their first album, which is self titled, is a pretty great first record. Some songs on it include, "Bombtrack", "Bullet to the Head, "Fistful of Steel" and "Killing in the Name" These are four, epic rock songs. "Killing in the Name" has a lyric, "some of those who work forces, are the same that burn crosses". Not only are they saying that police a corrupt, but they also do horrible, awful things when off duty. I couldn't agree more with them. That's not to say all cops are evil, but the majority of them are extremely evil. "Fistful of Steel" has some of the most innovative, cool guitar I've ever heard in my entire life. Tom Morello is a GENIUS and all the things he does on guitar, be it, playing expertly, making it sound like a slide guitar by just muting strings and sliding his hand up and down the guitar, using his whammy bar at the exact right time every time or any other number of things he does is so impressive. This guy is a LEGEND. I got the chance to see him perform a live, acoustic set when he was touring and calling himself, "The Nightwatchman" and it was awesome. He's the best. Their third album, "The Battle of Los Angeles" came out in 1999. A lot of people say this is their weakest album, but I still think it's pretty damn awesome. Songs on this album include, "Testify", "Calm Like a Bomb", "War Within a Breath" and "Guerilla Radio". Those are four classics if you ask me. "War Within a Breath" hearkens back to their heavy political stuff. "Calm Like a Bomb" is a great song about being so angry at the government that you want to explode on it and take over the broken, rundown system that it truly is. "Guerilla Radio" is classic RATM, once again, accompanied by Morello doing some crazy, awesome, unheard of shit on his guitar. "Born of a Broken Man" is another great track on this album about, what I assume, is a strained relationship with De La Rocha's father. It's a great, but pretty depressing song. Lyrically that is.

They released their fourth and final album "Renegades" in 2000. Rumors were going around that they weren't getting along and that this would be their final record. I was, at first, bummed out when I heard it was going to be an album of covers. But, after listening to it, I changed my mind immediately. Yeah, they're covering songs, but they're doing it in their style. They do Bob Dylan's "Maggie's Farm", but turn it into this funky, distortion heavy, hugely epic rock song. It's pretty great. They also do Eric B and Rakim's "Microphone Fiend". This was a perfect cover for them, because it let De La Rocha do what he does best and rap. The music is pretty awesome as well. Other covers include, Bruce Springsteen's "Ghost of Tom Joad", Rolling Stones "Street Fighting Man" Cypress Hill's "How I Could Just Kill a Man", amongst many others. The best song on "Renegades", in my opinion, is "Renegades of Funk", one of Afika Bambaataa's best songs. This was a great song for them because the lyrics are progressive and have heavy political overtones. It may be blasphemous, but I prefer RATM's version over Afrika Bambaataa's. "Renegades" is a very good record of covers.

Rage Against the Machine was, and still is, very important to me. When I was still playing in a "band", one of our favorite songs to play was "Bulls on Parade". I even got to play the solo. I still listen to them on my way to play basketball to get myself pumped up. RATM was my pump up music before football games in high school. I will be forever grateful to my friend for me pushing and pushing me to give them a second try.

It was one of the best decisions I've ever made.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the co-host of The X-Millennial Man Podcast. To get pumped down he usually listens to slow covers of Air Supply. Follow him on twitter @tykulik