The Death Of My mp3 (RIP)

So today my mp3 died...and I am in mourning. It had been going on me for weeks, playing the same song over and over again, I am so sick of Muse's the Knights of Cyodonia! At first I thought I had just put the thing on repeat, but then it froze, the LCD screen flickering, fading in and out of that icy blue glow, as if the poor thing was in a coma. It's strange to become so attached to a piece of silicon, metal and plastic especially in an age when people tire of day old electronics. However I have had my mp3 for five years. I remember there was a time I refused to even consider getting an mp3; you would have to rip my CDs from my cold dead hands! However, over the years it has become a friend almost, saved me when I wanted to be alone, and been my bus buddy, its weird seeing it go. It's effecting me in a way it probably shouldn't, I am surrounded by death. My grandpa is decreasing in health rapidly and its been hard on me, include the fact that my grandpa and dad hate each other (my dad is basically a slave to my grandpa, and yet I love him even though he is so cruel, but I'm over-sharing now). So my mp3 dieing just adds insult to injury...strange huh?

Anyways I figured I would compile a most played list of recent songs, we'll call it "my mp3's greatest hits" ha.

The Wallflowers - Letters from a Wasteland



The Apples in Stereo - Can You Feel It



Zaho - Dima



Devotchka - How It Ends



The Dave Brubeck Quartet - Take Five



The Cool Kids - Beeper



Nada Surf - Killian's Red



Bloc Party - Flux



Spoon - I Summon You

Best MCs You've Probably Never Heard Of

So Eminem has a new album out. And the media is doing a stellar job of pushing this Asher Roth kid as the next big thing. I say screw them all. Here's my list of the best unknown and under rated rappers.

K-OS - Forget Kanye West you want a guy who produces his own music has a addictive hooks and intelligent rap dialog? K-OS--not Kanye is the king.

Sage Francis - Representative of the disenfranchised and angry. Leave Eminem in the discount bin pick up this guy instead.

Atmosphere - One of the smartest lyricists in the game. Raps mostly about social unrest and teen angst, and experiments with different instruments for the hooks. Its nice to find a rapper who is brave enough to use his voice as the main instrument and not the synthesizer.

Illa J - Mentioned this man in a previous blog, his beats are fresh and car radio friendly.

K'naan - This is the third time I've mentioned this guy, so hopefully someone (if anyone actually reads this) has gone out and listened to some of his tracks now. I'm starting to feel like a K'naan groupie so this will probably be the last time I mention him in my blog for awhile.

Charles Hamilton - He has had a lot of hype surrounding him lately but that's because his rhymes and style are so original. With his raspy voice and mixture of old school charm and futuristic spin on music Hamilton really is the wave of the future.

B.o.B. - Hip Hop's new southern son.

Kid Cudi - Ok fine you probably have heard of this guy. I started listening to "Day n' Nite" around January of 2008. There was no video for the song yet and no huge promotion of the single, but it was generating a lot of buzz online. About a year later it finally got its due and is now enjoying top 40 radio play. However Cudi has more cutting edge material that has been eclipsed by the dance anthem-y single, listen to "Embrace the Martian."

Lupe Fiasco - I put Lupe on the list because he is well known but still under appreciated. In a world dominated by Lil Wayne and T.I. Lupe is the nerdy kid brother.

The Cool Kids - Before Kid Cudi was known as Kid Cudi he was (and still is) one half of The Cool Kids, two eighties old school obsessed rappers from Cleveland.

N.E.R.D. - One of the most innovative hip hop groups that never gets enough attention from the mainstream press.

Lazee - Swedish rapper that does his own thing.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c2NTQQPMIf0&feature=related

Adam Tensta -Another Swedish rapper most of his stuff (as well as Lazee's) are dance floor anthems, but that also means the hooks are addictive!

The Roots - Critically acclaimed with limited radio play. That's usually the way great music is these days, limited distribution on radio and loved by music critics, it shouldn't be.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CdWOoL31IJc