On Drake's "HYFR": Whose Bar Mitzvah Is It Anyway?
Eli, I am sorry you came away from the piece so upset.
BREAKING: I can't believe I didn't mention the part where Drake smashes a Torah-shaped cake. Take about a pivotal moment!
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On The Classical: Despising Sports And Itself And Everything Else Already
We hate stuff, but we also love much, and we will always, always love the Awl!!!!!!
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On Let's Go Europe, NBA Edition
Dirk's saxophone is very real!
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On Baby v. House: Which Comes With The Better Stuff?
@karion Death to Greenlake.
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On Baby v. House: Which Comes With The Better Stuff?
@iantenna All this kid's clothes are from Goodwill. Never-worn stuff grows on racks there!
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On Baby v. House: Which Comes With The Better Stuff?
@iantenna I knew somebody was going to say that. Don't worry, I wasn't the one paying for any of this.
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On How 'Try A Little Tenderness' Got Its Soul (And Lost It)
@LondonLee You know, you didn't, but I realized I probably should have addressed "Dock of the Bay" in the piece. Sorry about that. If anything, you were already making a case against it. It should probably should have been @JoshUng, since while I was jumping in on the exchange, I was really addressing his point.
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On How 'Try A Little Tenderness' Got Its Soul (And Lost It)
@reggiejax I get what sampling is; how and why soul is used; how its presence in hip-hop as reconfigured tradition is something that no mere music writer could every hope to question. That's why I said, for the short loops, or the way more artful "Gone", I don't think there's anything wrong with using Otis Redding (or anyone instantly recognizable.) The sound is the sound, and while maybe hip-hop has gotten away from fetishizing obscure samples, that's just allowed any and everything to be used in creative ways. The problem, for me, comes when productions rests on the laurels of the sample. Do you think "Otis" works seamlessly? Fine. I happen to think that it's awkward, and as interested in letting "Try A Little Tenderness" play as figuring out how to fold it into a new piece of music. I really don't think that the content of the original song should matter, unless there are words sampled, or there's some very obvious inside joke/cross-reference.
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On How 'Try A Little Tenderness' Got Its Soul (And Lost It)
@JoshUng @LondonLee "Dock of the Bay" may be his biggest hit, the most famous song he recorded, and the Otis Redding most likely to be played on oldies stations. But I don't think it stands for Otis, or soul in general, the way "Tenderness" does. It's almost an aberration.
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On I Broke Up With Writing (And It Feels OK)
My advice is that sometimes advice is a lack of advice because the writing is on the wall.