aka avant garde musical water cooler conversation.
1. Ninjasonik no more?
On Saturday afternoon I got word from our own staff writer and in-house graphic designer Carrie “2AM” Epps at Brooklyn’s Afro Punk Festival that Ninjasonik, the 21st century Beastie Boys-esque punk hop collaboration had once again torn down the stage in an epic manner. Awesome news, however, it would appear that the group that typically likes to “go to bars, and do drugs, drink PBRs, and rock tats and plugs” was a man short in that endeavor as DJ Teenwolf has apparently split from Telli Federline and Jah Jah. Ninjasonik originally started as the duo of Jah Jah and Teenwolf, with Telli’s party rhymes and hyperkinetic stage presence added later. If needing possible clues as to the reasoning behind the split, let’s look no further than DJ Teenwolf’s Twitter account(@djteenwolf), where he stated, “Just got thrown out of a ninjasonik show. NINJASONIK is DEAD. All that remains is a hollow corpse to be fucked by the industry.” On Telli Federline’s page (@bathroomsexxx), the comment “Listen @ninjasonik is alive & fuckn well ! Me n jah just had 2 make adjustments! We ain’t goin nowere! Rt” is still listed. As of today, Teenwolf’s comment has been deleted from his account, and Telli’s still remains, but it is truly apparent that something is amiss in the group.
Ninjasonik, for being a tremendously buzzed about (and deservedly so) underground act, has been dealing as of late with the growing pains associated with being a top band in the underground but a band at the absolute lowest end of the totem pole of the mainstream. Growth has occurred as Telli has appeared on songs for the Trouble and Bass Crew, and mixtapes dropped last summer and fall feature a plethora of new, unreleased material that is as ribald, ridiculous and bordering on obscene as ever, but loaded with talent as we remember. But, for all of that, debut album Art School Girls has met with paltry sales and minimal buzz, as many journalists find the album not extremely well mixed on a technical level, and content wise unable to meet the balance of punk energy and hip hop finesse that makes Ninjasonik, ummm, Ninjasonik.
This is a cautionary tale to all bands as though we have no official word on the issue (with Ninjasonik set to tour VERY soon for the summer), it’s always important to maintain a level head and a solidly positive attitude amidst the stress of an industry that is unkind, unfair, critically un-hip and five years behind the curve when dealing with co-opting the underground for mainstream gain. My fear of fears is that a group like South Africa’s Die Antwoord, who aren’t the worst group ever, but have style, quirk, some well produced tracks and a great look, but lack some of the heart and authenticity of a group like Ninjasonik. Though fractured, the “Sonic Fucking Ninjas” when at their best were the best approximation of the beating, bleeding, drug and alcohol addled heart of a key element of the “hipster” premise. The road is not short, and patience must remain long on the road to success.
2. Welcome back….Chris Brown?!?!?!?
By all accounts, last night’s 2010 BET Awards were a vast improvement from last year’s yearly gala celebrating the finest in African-American popular music. From last year’s event that featured Young Money Entertainment ostensibly rapping the chorus to “Every Girl,” “I just wanna f*** every girl in the world,” while surrounded by a cadre of barely teenage girls and a Michael Jackson tribute performance mere hours after his death that left entirely too much to be desired, last night by comparison did it right. Not to offend any person of any of the broad rainbow of skin colors of the universe, but there particularly wasn’t a black person alive who didn’t want to see Chris Brown pay tribute to Michael Jackson. Yes, Chris Brown is a fool. He beat down and almost choked out Rihanna on the one day of his life where such behavior was likely 10000 times more wrong than it is to do so at any other time. He seemed to deep six his career. But yeah. Black people in particular were all about being willing to forgive Chris Breezy to watch him galavant around on a stage in a manner familiar to the King of Pop. He did so last night, and, ummm, yeah, all is forgotten. It’s amazing what happens when you put a premium on talent over personal behavior.
I advise everyone in the world to prepare for the return of Chris Brown. Let’s all remember “Kiss Kiss” and “Yo (Excuse Me Miss),” two of the hottest R & B songs of the first decade of the 21st century. Graffiti, if you can rescue it from the cut out bin or visit your favorite local torrent site, is a ridiculously well produced record. I’m also not going to forget the fact that he beat up a woman, which on all levels is fundamentally inexcusable. But the record industry is now going to be in the business of making young women the world over cuddle up and love Chris Brown. Yeah, it’s creepy as shit. No other way to say it. But it’s about to happen. I hope he makes money and does well, because clearly, he has God given talents that deserve shine, but, wow. Sometimes the most wonderful things happen to the worst of people, huh?
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