In an effort to further explore the myriad and "Komplicated" musical tastes of the modern "post-Black" denizens of the world, we present Spin City, which will feature recommendations from some of the world’s finest DJs, Joining resident turntablist DJ Jedi, we're proud to present the musical musings of Brutha Gimel (also known as Gimel Hooper), a double threat who not only is well known for his skills on the wheels, but also as a spoken word artist of considerable renown and one of the co-founders of LA's long-running venue Da Poetry Lounge. We now present Gimel's favorites for this week …
I remember being 8 or 9 years old and falling in love with the radio play list because it had rap music on it.
If I was outside playing and saw a guy with a boom box, I'd either make my way to him to see if was playing my favorite song.
Every time a car came cruising down my street, my activity would slow motion to see if I can identify with the song bleeding out the cab.
Today, my dad often tells me how I constantly recited the lyrics to "The Message" by Grandmaster Flash & The Furious 5. Funny how I can't recall that but what I can recall is that the first rap song I knew every lyric to was "Hard Times" by Run-DMC. The irony is both songs had a socially conscious overtone. Both songs spoke of a world I was familiar with. Though we are a long ways away from 1983 not much has changed in my attraction to music. I am still drawn to social and street commentary with a social overtone. Unfortunately, the radio doesn't provide the tones I desire the way it did in my high water pants days. There are different arguments of why this is so but the two I accept as truth are the "corporate greed," which say the business is driven by money and of course my favorite argument is the "conspiracy to keep us dumb," which is self explanatory.
I did a column highlighting a few of the songs from the 90s of which I felt like gave the era its glory, a column that influenced me as a music listener. This week's column will be similar but with a bit more militance. Without me saying anything about them, you tell me what they make you feel.
A course of events involving Trayvon Martin and the movies The Hunger Games and The Help tells us that not much has changed. Issues have just been concealed.
Peace & Blessings
In addition to checking out Brutha Gimel out tonight at Da Poetry Lounge, here's where else you can find this talented troubadour.
Barring unforeseen challenges, Brutha Gimel's Spin City should be waiting for you, right here on Komplicated.com, every Tuesday afternoon.
[Source: Brutha Gimel, Image courtesy of AwwMan.net]