SONG OF THE DAY: "The Best Day" by Atmosphere

From time to time, I will set a theme for a series of SotDs that can last anywhere from a few days to a few weeks, depending on how much material I wish to cover. This week's theme will be rap songs!

RAP WEEK SONG #7!

Atmosphere is one of the better-known groups going in the alternative hip-hop game, which is only fair since they've been doing their thing since 1997. The group has released seven albums and sixteen EPs in that time, including several highly-regarded classics of the genre. So, with a group as prolific and of such high quality as Atmosphere, I could have easily dug up a heavy deep cut like "The Woman With Tattooed Hands" or "Scapegoat." I'm not going to do that though. It's Saturday night, so to conclude RAP WEEK, I feel it's only appropriate to pick a party song, as well as one of my favorite Atmosphere songs.

Ant and Slug (the two current members of Atmosphere) are founders of the Rhymesayers Entertainment record label and rap collective, which features many heavyweights in the scene, such as Aesop Rock, P.O.S., Musab, and Brother Ali. Atmosphere first began gaining widespread notoriety following the release of 2003's Seven's Travels, released on Epitaph Records, the legendary punk label. Their association with the punk scene led to their appearance on the 2004 Warped Tour, which they returned to the following year. The music video for "Trying to Find a Balance" was played on MTV2 and other various channels, and "The Keys to Life vs. 15 Minutes of Fame" was included on the 2004 Warped Tour Compilation. From there, the group took off. "Say Hey There" from 2005's You Can't Imagine How Much Fun We're Having and "You" from 2008's When Live Gives You Lemons, You Paint That Shit Gold were also very successful, establishing the group as a major player in rap and proving that alternative rap can find mainstream success.

One thing I love about Atmosphere is their versatility. One minute, they're writing songs about extremely heavy subjects, like domestic abuse ("The Last to Say") and working poverty ("Guarantees"). The next they're singing about beautiful weather ("Sunshine") and beautiful women ("She's Enough"). They also excel at blending heavy subjects with upbeat music, as they do on "Yesterday" (the death of a parent) and "The Waitress" (homelessness). They have songs to party to, songs to bob your head to while doing homework, songs to drive to, songs to make you think, and songs to entrance you in the music. Slug is an incredibly visual storyteller, writing funny, sad, heartbreaking, clever, angry, motivational lyrics that are both intensely personal and easily relatable. Their success is no accident.

What I love most about "The Best Day" is how optimistic the song is, serving as a reminder not to let the crappy days bum you out too much. Just grit your teeth, accept it, and move on. The lyrics are smart and sneaky, describing scenes that can sound tired and overplayed in a way that gives them life again. I especially love the section about school. Give it a listen and brighten up your day to get pumped for the night!

SONG OF THE DAY: "The Best of Times" by Sage Francis

From time to time, I will set a theme for a series of SotDs that can last anywhere from a few days to a few weeks, depending on how much material I wish to cover. This week's theme will be rap songs!

RAP WEEK SONG #6!

Sage Francis is another rapper I found by way of punk music. He was one of the non-punk artists signed by the legendary Epitaph Records when the label began diversifying in the early- to mid-2000s. Francis has always been a very political rapper, especially so during the early years of his career. In fact, he first began gaining notoriety after releasing the song "Makeshift Patriot" a month after 9/11/2001. I did not hear of him until years later, when he lent a verse to the Bad Religion song "Let Them Eat War" on 2004's The Empire Strikes First (Bad Religion is a similarly political punk band whose guitarist, Brett Gurewitz, founded Epitaph).

After being extremely prolific from 2002 to 2007, Francis has since only released one album and two mixtapes, though he has another album due out this year. Prior to experimenting with rap, Francis was primarily a spoken word artist, well-known in the poetry slam community. This experience has given a distinct style to his rapping, one that is less based on beats and flow, choosing to highlight the mood of the song and the weight of each word instead. This decidedly anti-mainstream approach has earned him a lot of respect and acclaim in the alternative rap, indie, and punk scenes (this also is likely due in part to his association with Epitaph Records).

"The Best of Times" closes out his most recent album, "Li(f)e," and serves as a nice, personal end-piece to the record, showing off his more introspective side as well as his spoken word style. There was a point in time during which I listened almost exclusively to this song and P.O.S.'s "Optimist." The song is a long, drawn-out examination of his life thus far, beginning in grade school. He examines each stage of his life, what the world looked like at that point, and how he regards that time of his life now that his perspective has changed. It is chock-full of solid, heartfelt lyrics without going so far as to be overly sentimental, and the general crescendo of the song is golden. Check it out below!

SONG OF THE DAY: "I Stand Alone" by Theophilus London

From time to time, I will set a theme for a series of SotDs that can last anywhere from a few days to a few weeks, depending on how much material I wish to cover. This week's theme will be rap songs!

RAP WEEK SONG #5!

Theophilus London is a Trinidadian rapper by way of Brooklyn who has been deservedly getting a lot of attention in recent years. He released a number of mixtapes that were largely overwrought and unnecessarily expansive, although each contained a few true gems that kept me paying attention to his next move. By the time his debut album, Timez Are Weird These Days dropped in 2011, he was poised to absolutely explode. That didn't exactly happen, although the album turned a few heads and fared reasonably well on the Rap and R&B/Hip-Hop charts.

I would attribute this chart performance not to a lack of talent, but largely to the manner in which he presents his music. Most of his songs are undoubtedly pretty weird by mainstream standards. Timez had only one true pop song on it ("One Last Time"), and "I Stand Alone" only got any attention simply because of how awesome the song is, not to mention how original it sounds. But most of the album's beats were heavy, funky, and strange, the sounds multicultural and multi-epochal. The songs were atypically structured, loud and noisy at one moment, slow and brooding the next, but not very radio-friendly. His brand of hip-hop is nearly impossible to categorize, as each individual song has its own identity and style.

Speaking of style, Theophilus London has his own signature style that he probably couldn't pull off unless his music and occupation were such as they are. As he opines in "I Stand Alone," "The clothes don't make the man / It's the man that makes the clothes." Theo can get away with wearing anything he wants because his music gets away with anything it wants. As far as his public persona suggests, London is whatever and whomever he feels like being, and his music supports this idea.

"I Stand Alone" is the closing track from Timez, and is one of the biggest indicators of the level of talent that Theo has. The song starts out simply, with low energy, just a vocal and some sort of drum that you would never hear in most rap songs. Then other sounds start rising up, a trumpet blasts shortly, almost imperceptibly, and a synthesizer starts winding its way around his words. When London lets loose, half-singing, half-yelling, the drums come racing in, driving the song forward as the other instruments do their own thing. The song stays high energy for another verse, then eventually dips back down to almost nothing, before one last burst of chorus. The song is original, fun, exciting, and catchy, and yet not many have heard it. Let's change that, starting now!

SONG OF THE DAY: "Optimist" by P.O.S.

From time to time, I will set a theme for a series of SotDs that can last anywhere from a few days to a few weeks, depending on how much material I wish to cover. This week's theme will be rap songs!

RAP WEEK SONG #4!

P.O.S. is a member of Doomtree and has released both solo and Doomtree albums on Rhymesayers Entertainment since 2004. I honestly am not very familiar with his work and find most of what I've heard by him to be a very difficult listen. You see, P.O.S. is heavily alternative even with respect to other alternative rappers. He eschews standard beats and song structures in favor of an anything-goes attitude. He has very loud, industrial, cacophonous beats on many of his tracks, and it proves to be a bit grating and hard to listen to. But, occasionally, as on "Optimist," everything comes together in a really beautiful way.

This single from his 2009 album Never Better was featured on Fuse back in the day when I still watched Fuse, but I didn't pay much attention until years later. I re-discovered this song when I began searching for more alternative rap artists and learned about his connection to the punk scene. He has a song called "Lifetime...Kid Dynamite" on his first album, and his second album featured both Greg Attonito of the Bouncing Souls (on a track called "De La Souls," no less) and Craig Finn of The Hold Steady on separate tracks. His third album featured Jason Shevchuk of None More Black (and formerly of Kid Dynamite) and his fourth featured Justin Vernon of Bon Iver. Needless to say, any rapper so frequently featuring so many punk and indie heavyweights will make me take notice.

To paraphrase a lyric from "Optimist," P.O.S. does something until it's not fun, and then he finds another hobby. A quick survey of his Wikipedia page confirms that he truly does live with this mindset. In addition to the aforementioned projects, he also has been a member of five different punk and indie bands that appear to have little activity or recorded output. Nevertheless, he always has something on the horizon, and you never know what to expect next from this guy.

"Optimist" is a very unique song in the realm of rap. It honestly sounds like a spoken-word poem put to a very simple beat made with hand claps and plastic cups. He pushes and pulls the phrasing at will, plays with end rhymes and false rhymes, and even leaves out words that he doesn't feel the need to say at the moment. It is a thoughtful, stream-of-consciousness, somewhat rambling glimpse into his life and his mind, performed almost solemnly (in spite of the song's title). The video is as creative and original as the song, and P.O.S.'s signature cut-off hat brim is prominently featured. Give a listen below to the first, and better, "cups" song!

SONG OF THE DAY: "Put Your Twos Up" by Rizzle Kicks

From time to time, I will set a theme for a series of SotDs that can last anywhere from a few days to a few weeks, depending on how much material I wish to cover. This week's theme will be rap songs!

RAP WEEK SONG #3!

Rizzle Kicks is the best rap group going today, hands down. With both members of the group at only 22 years old, they are proof that hip-hop is and most likely always will be a young man's (or woman's) game. They are also doing something that almost no one else in rap is doing these days: making the genre fun again! Their songs are goofy, dancey, upbeat, and exciting. It always amazes me how seriously rappers take themselves when the style of music lends itself so well to headbobbing, danceable beats. Yet, so many in the genre are concerned with how awesome, tough, and rich they are.

(I don't put up with that in real life, so why would I put up with that in my music? If you met someone who was talking about themselves like that at a party, wouldn't you be a little disgusted or even offended by the egotistical asshole? Wouldn't you walk away and talk to other people about what a jerk that one guy is? I would. I just don't get the appeal of that kind of behavior in music when it's so obnoxious in all other parts of my life.)

Sorry about the ranty tangent there...aaaanyway, Rizzle Kicks are nothing like that. They have the best beats of anyone around, their songs are full of life and energy, they blend singing and rapping extremely well, and they rap and sing about girls, doing dumb things with their friends, being young, being in love, and having fun. You know, stuff I enjoy doing and can relate to. Fortunately, you could not hear a word they say and still love the music. It's just that good.

Rizzle Kicks is just two kids named Jordan and Harley from the U.K. (yup, two British rappers...don't see that every day), which is also proof that the U.K. consistently produces the best music. Us Yanks need to start paying more attention. They started out rapping over indie songs for an early mixtape, then started recording their own music, which is around the time record labels became interested. Since then, RK has recorded two albums (each including a track produced by Fatboy Slim), appeared on tracks by Olly Murs, Ed Sheeran, Mayer Hawthorne, and others, and have undeniably blown up.

Their first album, Stereo Typical, was released in 2011 and featured seven insanely catchy and insanely good songs, and seven pretty okay songs. But last year, upon the release of Roaring 20s, we began to see the group come into their own a little more. Roaring 20s is a very eclectic record, heavily featuring horns and piano, often in a style reminiscent of ragtime and big band songs. There are two laidback, jazzy love songs ("The Reason I Live" and "I Love You More Than You Think), reggae-influenced songs ("Me Around You" and "Wind Up"), and revved-up club-bangers ("Lost Generation" and "Skip to the Good Bit"). They also reference Harry Potter ("That's Classic"), sample '90s classics ("Unbelievable" by EMF on "Skip to the Good Bit"), and try out heavy, minimalist beats ("Jive" and "Lunatic").

There are many other unexpected sounds that come out over the course of 14 songs, and it proved to be a frustrating listen at first. But the singles kept me coming back, and I soon began to see the album for what it is: two guys who are influenced by a hundred different styles trying to filter them all through their own lens, allowing them to color the end product, while still allowing it to remain their own creation at the end of it all. Each track is catchy, unique, and fun. For what some of the tracks lack in quality, they make up for in variety; you never know what's coming next, keeping you interested and coming back for more. The whole album is an exciting trip that never slows down or fails to surprise.

"Put Your Twos Up" is Rizzle Kicks' second collaboration with Norman Cook (a.k.a. Fatboy Slim) operating as producer and songwriter, following Stereo Typical's "Mama Do the Hump." While no single track could sum up all the Rizzle Kicks have to offer, this track is the best approximation of how fun and unique these guys are. So turn your stereo (or laptop) up, and get ready to raise your glass, shake your ass, and party 'til the night is through!

SONG OF THE DAY: "Eye Know" by De La Soul

From time to time, I will set a theme for a series of SotDs that can last anywhere from a few days to a few weeks, depending on how much material I wish to cover. This week's theme will be rap songs!

RAP WEEK SONG #2!

De La Soul are the original hip-hop hippies. They would probably hate me for saying that, considering how they actively took steps to shed that label as their career progressed, but it nevertheless remains true. The cover of their first album and their repeated professions of their philosophy of D.A.I.S.Y. ("da inner sound, y'all) have forever solidified that reputation. Another member of the Native Tongues crew, they are widely credited with introducing the alternative hip-hop movement as a reaction to the increasingly violent and aggressive trend that was emerging with the onset and popularity of gangsta rap. The group has released a number of legendary hip-hop albums, beginning with their 1989 debut, 3 Feet High and Rising.

I'm still not sure how I feel about 3 Feet. Although it is widely considered to be one of the greatest rap albums ever recorded, I find it to be an immensely frustrating listen. This also holds true for the other De La Soul albums I've listened to (1991's De La Soul is Dead and 1996's Stakes is High). No doubt about it, De La Soul is a very weird rap group, especially by today's standards. At times, this uniqueness makes perfect sense and everything clicks in a beautiful way. But, too often, I just get lost trying to understand what the hell is going on.

I still can't decide if 3 Feet High and Rising is brilliantly weird, or if it's just a whole lot of randomness occasionally interrupted by a really good song. In general, the album is very silly. They talk about people who have dandruff, holding doo-doo in their hands, and soap. The skits that keep popping up on the album follow a weird game show upon which the members are contestants. There is also a brief French conversation between a man and a woman about the time of day. Needless to say, I don't understand the inclusion of most of these things. Some of it is humorous and displays the group's personality, but there is simply too much of it. There are only a handful of real, actual, complete songs on the hour-long album.

But when they are actually singing songs, De La Soul was untouchable. The single "Me, Myself, and I" was my first introduction to the group, with its school-themed music video and a guy (Trugoy/Plug Two) who I thought looked like Kenan Thompson. That song is a quirky, fun jam that works equally well at parties and in the car. Other songs, like "D.A.I.S.Y. Age" and "The Magic Number," are just as good. An entire album of the quality of these songs would truly be an amazing listen.

In my mind, the band's sound is best exemplified by the track "Eye Know." It is also probably the peak of their hippie-ness, it being a song about love, peace, and respect of women that heavily samples a Steely Dan song. It is a light, fun, happy song that can bury itself in your head for days at a time. That trombone bit doesn't do anything to help matters. This song, along with the ones mentioned above, represent De La Soul at both their most comprehensible and their most listenable. If "Eye Know" catches your ear the way it did mine, check out 3 Feet High and Rising. You might find it confusing and hard to get through, but you also might love it. Many, many people do. Let me know what I'm missing out on if it all makes sense to you!

SONG OF THE DAY: "Excursions" by A Tribe Called Quest

From time to time, I will set a theme for a series of SotDs that can last anywhere from a few days to a few weeks, depending on how much material I wish to cover. This week's theme will be rap songs!

RAP WEEK SONG #1!

I am not really a fan of rap. I find too much of it to be much too concerned with excess and success. However, I am a huge fan of a very specific kind of rap. That kind is largely referred to as underground/indie/alternative rap. The standard of this genre has been set by the likes of Mos Def (Yasiin Bey), Talib Kweli, Jurassic 5, Atmosphere, Aesop Rock, and many other similar artists, but it got its start about a decade before these artists rose to prominence. According to my admittedly limited knowledge on the subject, alternative hip-hop first emerged near the end of the 1980s, and was catalyzed by the formation of Native Tongues artists like De La Soul, the Jungle Brothers, and especially A Tribe Called Quest.

I first learned about Tribe while searching for rap with laidback, jazzy beats. This search began after hearing Lupe Fiasco's "Around My Way (Freedom Ain't Free)," which features a prominent saxophone in the background, and especially after hearing Lupe's "Life, Death, and Love from San Francisco," on which he raps directly over a portion of Coltrane's seminal 1965 album A Love Supreme. The discovery of the jazz rap genre immediately led to A Tribe Called Quest's second album, The Low End Theory, released in 1991, which is widely considered to be one of the greatest hip-hop albums of all time.

In short, The Low End Theory is incredible and truly unique. Whereas most of rap is loud and showy, this album is largely quiet and subtly confident. The group, featuring rappers Q-Tip, Phife Dawg, and DJ Ali Shaheed Muhammad, place socially conscious and consciously meaningful lyrics over the background of minimal smooth jazz beats. And, really, I think we can all agree there's not much that's cooler than jazz bass.

The album's opening track, "Excursions," begins with a lone bass line bouncing around a few notes, soon followed by Q-Tip coolly pontificating on the cyclical nature of musical trends. After the first eight lines of the song, the drums finally come in, giving us the first taste of the album's signature sound. It is one of the coolest introductions of any album, rap or otherwise, and lets you know you're in for something really special. Later in the song, a saxophone begins playing in the background, mirroring the bassline with a short, simple, repeating riff, but the song, and most of the ones that followed, remains largely minimalist.

A Tribe Called Quest would go on to follow this album with the brilliant Midnight Marauders two years later. Although this album's title may suggest it continues with the same late-night jazz feel, Marauders is a little louder, more experimental, and more versatile, but nearly equals its predecessor in terms of quality. But The Low End Theory takes the cake here due to its undeniable influence on socially conscious and alternative rap. Throughout the week, we will explore albums and artists that continue to give hip-hop relevance in the face of the genre's mainstream incompetence. But for now, introduce (or re-introduce) yourself to the Tribe!