Dread Shaker of the Week

First off, my apologies to all my avid readers (see also: myself) because I forgot to post a Dread Shaker of the Week last week.  Not very noticeable when I haven't made any posts since the last one but shit, if I can't do this much then what's the point?

Today's selection is "All The Way Crunked Up" by Lil Jon ft. Pastor Troy & Waka Flocka Flame.  Lil Jon reworks Roscoe Dash's "All The Way Turnt Up" beat into a masterpiece.  He exchanges the tinny guitars for protypical hood horns and just takes it another level.  Really he had no choice but to put his dreaded contemporaries Waka and Troy on this.  I think Roscoe Dash and Soulja Boy get black eyes and bruises just by hearing this version.

Dread Shaker of the Week

If you are like me then you wish you had dreads.  Not because of how they look or anything like that but because it seems almost impossible to enjoy a solid crunk junt without having some to shake.  That is, if you are like me, of course.  So in honor of my there-in-spirt dreads I am going to post a weekly dread shaker jam.  Expect the most gangsterish, body-counts-in-the-hundreds, mommas-be-slappin-they-child-for-having-it type of shit you can think of.  Expect heart-shifting bass, ear-slicing snare and horror movie synth.  Expect a lot of Pastor Troy and Waka Flocka Flame, honestly.

The inaugural selection is Fuck You by SNO featuring DJ Paul of Three 6 Mafia from their album Year Round.  Catch a bunch of drugged out white boys going hard over an oft used but slightly hyper-than-usual sample.

Shout out to all the dashes I used.

King Of Tha Ghetto

Texan readers need no explanation for this post.  You already know that Z-Ro is probably Texas' most prized (living) rapper.  Before anyone slaps me with a "don't know shit" charge let me acknowledge some rappers that could be put on that list above Ro: Trae, Lil Keke, Scarface, Bun B, etc.  I think the fact that Z-Ro never quite jumped to nationwide stardom is what makes him a little more important to Texas.  He never jumped on a trend, never sacrificed his sound for a hit single, never hopped on a popular artist's dick (what's that you say - no Lil Wayne features?!).  Basically, he has never been a bitch and don't know how to be a ho.  That makes Texas proud.

Z-Ro's most potent quality is that we actually believe him when he says played out lines like "real talk."  How can we deny the legitimacy of gangster chronicles told in Joseph Wayne McVey's deep voice, so syrupy it's like the lean he just sipped out of his styrofoam is actually spilling out with the words? It doesn't hurt that he is willing to talk about subjects many "gangstas" will not touch like, you know, feelings and shit but in the next verse bounce right back to splitting your skull with an ease that is frightening.

I could write for days about why I think Z-Ro might be the best in the game but that is not really the purpose of this post.  If you're a fan then you know what he is capable of, but I want to share with you some of Ro's most vicious moments, when he is battling emotions that have backed him into a corner and therefore is at his most human.

Life Story from Look What You Did To Me
"There's some niggas looking for me and they might be near and if they kill me don't shed a tear, remember I'm not happy here. Even still, got to keep my eyes on the prize although my vision is blurry. I'm losing life in a hurry. Even my girlfriend don't understand, don't want her to witness the wicked so please find yourself another man."

More Or Less (Remix) from various mixtapes
"Fuck a drive-by, I want him to look me in my eyes. Let him call Junior on his mobile, just to say goodbye. So call my name out and watch how everybody run for cover 'cause they know I'm a heartless motherfucker."

I Found Me from King Of Da Ghetto
"I'm scared to eat the last of the bread and the butter because after that, all the goddamn food gone. I'm a muthafucking struggler, I wish I was a bubbler. Mama said that it would it be days like this but not a life like this, so I take a knife like this and slice like this, take life like this, fuck around and I take my own life like this."

Never Take Me Alive from Gangstafied
"Catch me one deep out the window as I'm bucking my nine. Ain't got no love for nothing that got love for a nigga 'cause in the end, they end up having slugs for a nigga. So fuck a vest, if I'm destined to get one in my chest, I guess I'ma hook up with Pac and puff on some of heaven's best, bitch."

Lord Tell Me Why (Slowed) from Look What You Did To Me
"After living through the drive-bys, got a nigga ready for war. 500 push-ups everyday to keep my knock out punches up to par 'cause everybody want to test me... Would the lord bless me to keep on breathing, leaving niggas unconscious. When I'm punching I'm going hard in the paint, so pack a lunch. To the niggas that we killing, don't feel like you the only motherfucker. I really don't think we even love each other."

Happy birthday to the late, great DJ Screw a.k.a. Robert Earl Davis, Jr. I'ma be screwed for life.

Cutting Losses

"Rejected or rejection? Either way I sleep at night."

Plunger.  Planet Lunchbox.  One Step Up.  The Deathstar 5.  SWC.  Y'all know I haven't really contributed to the cream of the crop when it comes to bands.  Now I can finally be proud.  Cutting Losses officially started in October of 2004 when I drafted the lyrics to Choices.  Days later Greg had music and we would ride that one song for about 3 more years.  Greg usually had something else going on musically and we could never really keep a solid lineup.  Let alone our random bouts of activeness didn't really allow me to find myself as a vocalist all that well and those other bands sure as hell didn't either.  Over six years and several moves later we are again an actual band and I fucking love us.  Yeah I love my own band.  Deal with it.  I love us not just because our songs accurately convey my rage and despair towards humanity.  Not just because we are able to write what I consider to be undiluted hardcore free of any gimmicks or cop outs.  Not just because this band with all its curses is an accurate reflection of my general life path.  Not just because we have the greatest demo cover of all time.  But because I can finally return the favor that hardcore paid me over 13 years ago.

In my frustration (see also: old man jadedness) over the last few years I started to lose sight of the fact that hardcore will always be what it was.  No amount of Hot Topics, easy internet accessibility or wayward status-seekers can change that.  All of my songs have been about me, me, me.  My life sucks, my life sucks, my life suuuuucks.  And believe me it does, but so do a lot of other people's lives.  So do a lot of people and things, period.  I should not take for granted that I have a microphone and no limits on what I can say.  Hardcore made me privy to what type of world we live in.  My dad used to say that it was an egg/chicken kind of thing.  What came first?  The anger or the music that fuels the anger?  No doubt that the anger and unrest was always there.  I can give you 5 examples off the top of my head without thinking from pre-hardcore Drew's life as proof it was already brewing.  Hardcore helped me realize what I was angry about and that I'm not alone.  Yes, there you have it.  Hardcore is just rah-rah music for angsty teens who got beat up in middle school.  If that's what you think or if you think the "you're not alone" statement is trite, go ahead and stop reading.  One deep until the day that I die but my sanity remains due to knowing I'm not the only person who feels this way.  It goes so far beyond any bully or ANY individual experience really.  Hell, both my parents were very loving to me if you can believe it.  We live in a sick world.  We can't go a day without breathing the same air as some arrogant fuck willing to cross anyone for their own personal gain.  This is what angers me.   The individual bullies I can fight back but the world as a whole?  That's the fight that exhausts me.

Now that I sing for a band that actually has songs I'm not only unashamed of but really proud of I can use it as a tool.  I am 27 and have seen a lot things and have met a lot of people.  I know how this world works.  I know what to look for.  I know how to survive.  I have been weak but I always, always come right the fuck back.  'Every breath I take is a choice that I must make' and I make the right one every time.  Hardcore is so saturated and so available now that I can only imagine that the allure that it had for me is hardly present for younguns getting into the game now, but it is still something different, something other than what the rest of the world is offering.  You just have to be looking for it.

I like to think I have cultured myself and consider myself aware of what is going on around me.  I have most definitely delved into other areas of interest and surrounded myself with people of all walks of life.  I have had a couple desk jobs in my day.  Lord knows I listen to rap more than anything right now.  All of that does nothing to change the fact that I will always be a hardcore kid.  Those values, those morals, those ideas, that anger stills remains in me and still shapes who I am.  I may have taken a step back but I will forever do my part to keep this alive.  "To be less like you I'll be any punchline, no face I'll lose."

To sum it all up, Cutting Losses is the most important thing in my life right now.  It is the culmination of everything I have experienced.  It is my chance to turn this fucking negativity I fight with every day into something of some value, something I can proudly put my name on.  If there is one thing you can do for me as a friend or just as somebody interested enough to read this blog, you can listen to my band.

You can read the one and only Cutting Losses interview conducted by Michael Hawkins here: http://niteonearth.blogspot.com/2010/03/cutting-losses.html

Check out our blog at: http://cuttinglosses.wordpress.com/

The Internet...

...is about to be going nutz.