Con$umeri$m

As I scrolled through my Facebook news feed, I discovered the following captioned photo here, being shared by the page, “Ms. Lauryn Hill,” and originally posted it to my own wall, along with commentary…

Consumerism is a track coming out on the eve of Ms. Hill’s release. She wanted to get this music out while she was incarcerated, as it is a product of the space she was in while she was going through some of the challenges she has been faced with recently.
Available now on iTunes: http://bit.ly/MLH_C
“Consumerism is part of some material I was trying to finish before I had to come in. We did our best to eek out a mix via verbal and emailed direction, thanks to the crew of surrogate ears on the other side. Letters From Exile is material written from a certain space, in a certain place. I felt the need to discuss the underlying socio-political, cultural paradigm as I saw it. I haven’t been able to watch the news too much recently, so I’m not hip on everything going on. But inspiration of this sort is a kind of news in and of itself, and often times contains an urgency that precedes what happens. I couldn’t imagine it not being relevant. Messages like these I imagine find their audience, or their audience finds them, like water seeking it’s level.”
– Ms. Lauryn Hill

My Commentary: New song from Ms. Hill!

Watching MF Doom’s “Elder Blossoms” Video

The following correspondence originally took place upon the Facebook wall of my friend, Rebekah P…

Rebekah P.: Enjoy!

MF Doom – Elder Blossoms ( HD VJ Mix ):

Rayn: Cool video. 🙂

Rebekah P.: I love this whole LP, this track is beautiful! Even the elders can appreciate Elder Blossoms, this is Hip-Hop baby! I recommend mass-consumption of mass-produced mess for the masses while watching this vid 🙂

Remembering the Inspirational Hip-Hop Legacy of Lisa “Left-Eye” Lopez

The following correspondence originally took place upon the Facebook wall of fellow emcee, Tru Leo, after he shared a captioned photo from here

Tru Leo:

Hold Up! Lil' Mama Will Never Match Up To Left Eye's Legacy! http://bit.ly/XU4ohq

Hold Up! Lil’ Mama Will Never Match Up To Left Eye’s Legacy!
http://bit.ly/XU4ohq

Rayn: Word! Lil’ Mama couldn’t hold a candle to her! Left-Eye will always remain my original inspiration to rhyme – even before Lauryn Hill, who actually contributed to it, later, by virtue of her skills on the Fugees album, “The Score.” And, it was Left-Eye’s verse on “Waterfalls,” alone, that actually did it for me! 🙂 I played that portion of the song so very many times that my damn “CrazySexyCool” album stopped working properly SOLELY on that part – skipping it’s way through, instead!

Give Fiona Apple’s Fourth Album, “The Idler Wheel…,” a First Listen

I originally posted the following information and commentary onto my Facebook wall…

The ever-amazing Fiona Apple does it again!

The ever-amazing Fiona Apple does it again!

First Listen: Fiona Apple’s “The Idler Wheel…”:
http://www.npr.org/2012/06/10/154422085/first-listen-fiona-apple-the-idler-wheel

Emotions are so darn beautiful — that’s the message of music, much of the time. The giggling lilt of a melody, the ennobling swell of a crescendo: Popular songs, especially, often enhance our moods to lift us up, unbreak our hearts, drive us toward liberating confessions and cathartic climaxes. Courting the sublime so aggressively that it often gets ridiculous, pop music encourages listeners to imagine feeling in ways that make us bigger, better.

Fiona Apple‘s music does something different. A classically lovely woman whose gorgeous, sultry alto once led her toward alt-divadom, Apple has always dared herself to be and do something else: to say no to simple beauty and instead express the urges and insecurities that more accommodating artists tend to avoid.

(Read entire article here…)

My Commentary: Preview Fiona Apple‘s new album before pre-ordering it on Amazon.com!

Official Video Released for Fiona Apple’s Song, “Every Single Night”

I originally posted the following video and commentary onto my Facebook wall…

Every Single Night – Fiona Apple:

My Commentary: New Fiona Apple! 🙂