Jazz taught me how to see and hear music. A lot of the jazz records my mother used to play were instrumental, but you’d see and hear exactly what the band wanted you to see and hear, in terms of the mood they were trying to present, how they wanted you to listen to it. That allowed me to listen to beats and figure out what exactly they called for lyrically.
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Wednesday February 16, 2022
REDEF
Don't sweat the traffic: Eric B. (right) and Rakim on New York's 14th Street circa 1989.
(Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images)
quote of the day
Jazz taught me how to see and hear music. A lot of the jazz records my mother used to play were instrumental, but you’d see and hear exactly what the band wanted you to see and hear, in terms of the mood they were trying to present, how they wanted you to listen to it. That allowed me to listen to beats and figure out what exactly they called for lyrically.
- Rakim
rantnrave://
A Good Year for the Roses

It was last May, early in season two of TYLER MAHAN COE's COCAINE & RHINESTONES podcast, whose 18 episodes and nearly 40 hours constitute a sprawling and heartbreaking biography of one of my favorite singers, GEORGE JONES, that I learned the difference between how ice was harvested in ancient China and Persia, how and why ice cream finally reached the masses in Paris nearly 2,000 years later, and why iced tea became a thing in the US in the early 1900s. George Jones' name didn't come up in that episode's two hours, and it would be another nine months, until this week, before I understood why I'd been given all that information about ice. Coe has made it clear he understands not everyone was going to make it to this week. Some listeners were sure he'd been trolling them with his 20- or 30-minute prologues into the history of ice, or pinball, or pianos, or jousting, or bullfighting, or bootlegging, or the French monarchy, some of which he quickly connected to the bigger story but most of which he didn't. He wasn't trolling, of course. He was playing a very long game while telling an epic story about the history of country music and one of its greatest practitioners, and mental illness, and how harmonies work (and sometimes don't), how the music business works (and sometimes doesn't), how histories unfold in strange and unpredictable ways and how our lives start long before we're born and continue long after we're gone. This may be the greatest country music biography ever produced in any medium. The writing is lush, novelistic and exacting. Here's Coe on a teenage George Jones, who had grown up imitating his favorite singers, finally discovering his own voice: "He broke down every part of his vocal pathway and experimented with each, learning how to load his lungs, then restrict and direct airflow into somersaults of notes, how to smoothly move the sound between the resonating chambers of his chest and throat and skull, how to bite down on certain syllables to half-hum a lyric into clenched teeth."

The 18 episodes are covered wall to wall in music by Jones, his predecessors and contemporaries, and in a life's worth of stories, not all easy to listen to. Jones' life was filled with sadness and darkness, and he did some terrible things when he wasn't in a studio producing one of the great bodies of work of the 20th century. Sometimes Coe, who overenunciates every "t," sounds like he's yelling at his listeners, which I think is because he thinks it's really important that we hear every detail. There are a lot of details. Jones dies in the 17th episode, and in the finale, the 18th, Coe ends the story by going back to a beginning that you may not have noticed, until now, he'd left out. As he does, what you thought was trivia about ice and pinball and moonshine suddenly, magically, snaps into its rightful place. It's masterful storytelling. The finale starts with one final diversion—a half-hour-long lecture on the history of the symbolism of roses. After these 10 months and 40-ish hours, Coe seems to be suggesting, he wants to give you the roses while you, and he, live. And, it goes without saying, they'll connect to the story ahead, as well as the one behind.

Etc Etc Etc

Speaking of podcasts, KENDRICK LAMAR appears in one that launches on SPOTIFY today, diving deep into his album TO PIMP A BUTTERFLY. The five-part series is part of Spotify's THE BIG HIT SHOW podcast hosted by ALEX PAPPADEMAS... Lamar's SUPER BOWL stagemate SNOOP DOGG showed up on Clubhouse Tuesdasy to announce that DEATH ROW RECORDS, which he now owns, will be an NFT label. "Just like we broke the industry when we was the first independent to be major"—and no I don’t know what that means—"I want to be the first major in the metaverse," Snoop said. He's selling an NFT version of his own new album, B.O.D.R. (BACC ON DEATH ROW), for $5,000 each and has reportedly sold about 9,000 of them in five days, a number that, with all due respect, strikes me as badly in need of an audit... COACHELLA and STAGECOACH, which are two months away, have dropped all vaccine, masking and testing requirements (um, OK) but only Stagecoach, the country one, publicly announced it, and I'm dying to know the political and demographic calculus behind that comms strategy... New York State is offering $1,000/month for 18 months, no strings attached, for up to 2,400 artists who can show they have a financial need. The state, which has also set aside 300 jobs for artists at $65,000/year, is accepting applications for both programs.

- Matty Karas (@troubledoll), curator
the king is gone
NPR
Sure, 'Encanto' has fun songs and a sweet story. But Germaine Franco made it groove
By Tim Greiving
She's the first woman to score a Disney animated feature, and a history-making Oscar nominee. But most importantly, Franco is a drummer, who brings a jam-band attitude to a by-the-book industry.
Synchtank
The Winner Takes It All: What Does Catalog's Dominance Mean for the Future of the Music Business?
By Ben Gilbert
Catalog now represents 70% of the US music market. Ben Gilbert explores how this could impact the success of new talent across an evolving industry.
Cocaine & Rhinestones
Glenn
By Tyler Mahan Coe
CR032/PH18: The end of one story is just the beginning of another.
The Daily Show with Trevor Noah
India.Arie -- Unconscious vs. Conscious Racism & Unfair Treatment of Artists
By Trevor Noah and India.Arie
Grammy Award-winning artist India.Arie unpacks the mistreatment of artists that caused her to leave Spotify, the unconscious versus conscious racism that surrounds Joe Rogan’s apology, and her life-changing moment with Maya Angelou.
Attack Magazine
'I Removed My Music From Spotify'-- Why Artists Are Stepping Away Part 2
By Harold Heath
In the second part of our three-part feature, we talk to Steve Albini and MIRI on why artists are removing their music from Spotify.
The New Yorker
Stevie Nicks Is Still Living Her Dreams
By Tavi Gevinson
The rock-and-roll icon talks about style, spirits, and writing one of her best songs ever.
The Undefeated
How BTS helped me bridge my Korean and American identities
By Joon Lee
Growing up, I worried I would never be comfortable connecting these two worlds.
Desert Sun
COVID-19: Stagecoach, Coachella lift testing, vaccination requirements for April festivals
By Brian Blueskye
There will be no vaccination, testing or masking requirements at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival and Stagecoach Country Music Festival when they return in April to the Empire Polo Club in Indio. 
Billboard
Even With Sold-Out Concerts, No-Shows Are a Big Problem for Venues
By Dave Brooks
Why low attendance affects venues even when tickets are selling well.
The Guardian
Power player: how 50 Cent went from rapper to unlikely TV kingpin
By Andrew Lawrence
Once one of hip-hop’s biggest names, Curtis Jackson has bounced back from bankruptcy to create an expanded universe of glossy crime dramas. Just what is his secret?
so are you
SPIN
Through 'Acts of God,' Immolation Are Death Metal Masters -- and Students
By Andy O'Connor
Immolation have one of the most consistently great discographies in death metal.
GQ
Tupac Was Always Political
By Paul Thompson
The new art exhibit “Tupac Shakur: Wake Me When I’m Free” makes it clear he didn’t drop his lifelong ideological convictions after becoming a gangsta rapper.
Complex
'Double Standard in Action': Canadian Musicians Respond to Trucker Convoy Protests
By Kyle Mullin
Artists across the country are sharing their thoughts on the 2022 “Freedom Trucker Convoy” protests around vaccination mandates.
DJ Mag
Dance Yrself Green: can clubbing generate renewable energy?
By Sophie Lou Wilson
Emerging technology, BODYHEAT, promises to make clubs more carbon neutral. Sophie Lou Wilson speaks to those behind it, the first club to trial it (SWG3 Glasgow), and others about how it works, as well as its potential and limits.
The New Yorker
​​Morgan Wallen Is Not on an Apology Tour
By Kelefa Sanneh
You could chart the rise of Morgan Wallen, the first major country star of the twenty-twenties, by keeping track of all the apologies he has issued over the past year and a half.
Pitchfork
Loraine James Takes Electronic Music’s Temperature With New Alias Whatever the Weather
By Philip Sherburne
The ever-evolving UK producer talks about finding inspiration in emo and IDM on her latest project.
SPIN
Beach House’s Descent Into Madness
By Cam Lindsay
The dream-pop heroes dish on ‘Once Twice Melody,’ their “beast” of a new album.
Talkhouse
Liberate Us From Being 'Playlisted'
By Liam Benzvi
Spotify and songwriting in the age of playlists.
The Sydney Morning Herald
How country music made gay women invisible
By Bernard Zuel
Victims of a conservative industry are pushing back.
The Daily Beast
How John Lurie Made the Most Calming Show on TV
By Nick Schager
The enigmatic musician, artist, and actor discusses the second season of his acclaimed HBO series “Painting with John,” and why success can never come too late (or can it?).
Stuff
Barry Manilow as a weapon: A short history of sonic warfare
By James Hall
Thanks to Trevor Mallard, the soft-rock icon has joined a long list of singers to be used as a psychological threat.
what we're into
Music of the day
“I Ain't No Joke”
Eric B. and Rakim
From "Paid in Full" (1987).
Video of the day
“Something From Nothing: The Art of Rap”
Ice-T and Andy Baybutt
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