Big Boi – Sir Lucious Left Foot

Big Boi – Sir Lucious Left Foot: Son of Chico Dusty

How have I not listened to this album until just now? How was there not more press on its greatness? Why is there war and famine in the world? These are the difficult questions of our time. But we must soldier on into the new year….knowing that, even if the world refuses to celebrate awesomeness, we are here. Together. Searching for, listening to, and proclaiming the awesomeness as best we can. Outkast is great, we all can agree there. The Love Below/Speakerboxxx was technically a solo release for both Andre 3000 and Big Boi. However, Sir Lucious is the first legitly solo release for the Atlanta rapper and all I’ve really got to say is: hot damn. I mean, really…few albums (especially rap, as so many tend to have random interlude tracks) are strong from track-to-track, but Big Boi delivers (with help from a few friends from T.I. and Jamie Foxx to Janelle Monae). The album has a bit more of an electronic edge than his previous stuff, but keeps a raw, heavy beat as the frame and anchor for his flow…always smooth, sometimes offering a major throwback for Outkast fans. There’s so much more to say, but as always….the music will speak for itself. I’ve only got to more words for you: check it.

“Shutterbugg” – Big Boi ft. Cutty

In other news, here are a few nuggets of self-indulgent awesomeness:

1) My holiday reading has definitely included: Decoded – Jay-Z

“[My raps are] a variation on a story I’ve been telling you since I was ten years old rapping into a tape recorder: I’m dope. Doper than you. But even when a rapper is rapping about how dope he is, there’s something a little bit deeper going on. It’s like a sonnet, believe it or not. Sonnets have a set structure, but also a limited subject matter: They are mostly about love. Taking on such a familiar  subject and writing about it in a set structure forced sonnet writers to find every nook and cranny in the subject and challenged them to invent new language for saying old things. It’s the same with braggadocio in rap. When we take the most familiar subject in the history of rap–why I’m dope–and frame it within the sixteen-bar structure of a rap verse, synced to the specific rhythm and feel of the track, more than anything it’s a test of creativity and wit. It’s like a metaphor for itself; if you can say how dope you are in a completely original, clever, powerful way, the rhyme itself becomes proof that the boast is truth.”

2) Jay-Z’s live 2001 performance on MTV’s unplugged with The Roots as his band. The performance is available in a full remastered album and features appearances by my girl Mary J., Pharrell, and Damon Dash (producer of much greatness including the BlakRoc project). This video is crappy but its the only place you can listen to the full performance free of charge: Jay-Z – MTV Unplugged