I didn't discover Nina Simone until I was in my first year of college, mostly because I was raised in an environment where Aretha Franklin reigned as the undisputed Queen of Soul. Now don't get it twisted---I greatly respect Aretha's contributions to popular music. However, I hadn't heard shit until I listened to Nina---and that's the truth. As a result of my overwhelming admiration, I can't help but feel that Simone still hasn't received her proper placement in the pages of music history. I guess this oversight is to be expected from an industry in which commercial viability and capitalistic interests supercede talent and genuine artistry. Artists who can't easily be processed into a formulaic package are frequently marginalized into relatively obscure musical territory. There is often little room for artistic integrity in the corporate equation, which is why I'm forever urging people to think outside of the industry's box when selecting the music they want to hear. If you become an industry drone, you'll find yourself listening to Chingy and liking it, okay? You'll end up buying both Sweat and Suit by Nelly, but you won't know shit about Saul Williams. You really have to expend some energy in the search for good music, because it won't be fed to you on a corporate spoon...and Nina's a pretty damn good place to start:
Breath of Life is featuring three mp3s this week that can begin your primary education. Download the "Porgy and Bess Medley" by Nina, the Joe Claussell remix of her song "Feelin' Good", and Talib Kweli's interpretation of her classic cut, "Four Women":
http://www.kalamu.com/bol/.
Read more about Ms. Simone here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nina_Simone
and here: http://www.boscarol.com/nina/.
So Much Silence is offering three b-side remixes of Pharcyde tracks:
http://www.somuchsilence.blogspot.com/.
Vinyl Addicts have been posting some killer tracks lately. Cop MF Grimm's "Get Down", "Brainstorm" by 45 King w/ Latee, and the East Coast mix of "Poppa Large" by Ultramagnetic MCs, and more: http://vinyladdicts.blogspot.com/.
At Fifteen Minutes To Live, you can download a beautiful instrumental track by Omega One called "Memento": http://15minutestolive.blogspot.com/.
Besides these joints, I've been listening to this all weekend:
http://music.ign.com/articles/601/601772p1.html. I slept on this until just a few days ago, and I have no good reason why I didn't cop it sooner. If you are cursed with a pack on your back, you'll probably love this shit as least as much as I do...
Jigga makes nice with Nasty Nas:
http://www.nobodysmiling.com/hiphop/news/85282.php.
Nerdy Caucasian male does surprisingly amusing impersonations of several famous MCS:
http://media.putfile.com/white-guy/320.
Feel like you're being lied to by muthafuckin' CNN? Seek the truth here---if you think you can handle it:
http://www.whatreallyhappened.com/.
The CIA's World Factbook contains an informative profile of every country on Earth. Choose a nation and learn about its climate, government, economy, international disputes, etc. This site promises to make you appear very worldly and intelligent within just a few days:
http://cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/index.html.
Finally---the news we've all been waiting for---research suggests that weed does not propose a significant cancer risk: http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20051026/hl_nm/pot_cancer_dc.
Start rollin' up those trees, kids...
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