Metal Lungies

Pennsylvania’s Swarvy is quickly becoming one of my favorite new beat dudes. “Jawbraker” sounds broken in the best possible way and “Tapeghost” is a blunted medley with so many colors that it feels much longer than its six minute runtime.

Throwback rap videos are the best rap videos. See also People Under the Stairs’ “Trippin at the Disco” and of course Snoop’s immaculate “Sensual Seduction”.

Also, Dilla beat.

The “Buy You a Round” guy copped another one and it’s what we 90s babies call a club banger! All he had to do was flip “Doin It” by LL Cool J. The smarter R&B cats figured out a long time ago that singing over a 90s hip-hop smash is a guaranteed to have the ladies doing the no-pants dance. Sixty percent of the time, it works every time.

Aston Matthews’ steez is Piru savagery, aided and abetted by people like A$AP Ferg, Evidence,  and Action Bronson. Download Aston 3:16 in its entirety here and listen to the tape’s highlights below. Previously: the “Mini Van Dan” remix.

Only one track on Alchemist’s gospel-sampling instrumental album has rapping on it, so Alchemist called the two best rappers in his rolodex. ALC has the clout to bring the game’s best along for his wacky crate-digging adventures, but I don’t think Roc Marciano and Prodigy needed much convincing with a beat this cold.

Two more Roc cuts as bonuses.

Day 4 was our last day of Bonnaroo which is always a bittersweet event. Our legs are tired, our skin is burnt (BECAUSE WE FORGOT TO APPLY OUR NEUTROGENA SUNSCREEN), but we’d gladly take that on the regular if it meant we got to stay on The Farm. We started off the day by making a beeline to the Comedy Tent to see Abbi Jacobson and Ilana Glazer from Comedy Central’s Broad City. In general, the fine folk over at Metal Lungies are huge fans of Comedy Central and recently, Broad City tops the list as one of our most-watched shows. Abbi and Ilana shared their musical picks for life’s finest moments and revelations were had when Ilana announced that her pick for her first kiss would be ‘Santa Baby’. Abbi was blown away when she realized:

Comin’ down the chimney… wait… you guys… it’s a pussy you guys… a pussy!

Emerging from the cool interior of the comedy tent we caught Fitz and the Tantrums enthralled with the televised replay of the CHVRCHES show from Friday night (sorry CHVRCHES, we had to hang out with Vampire Weekend) before they performed a flawless set per usual. Arctic Monkeys took to the What Stage for a mid-afternoon set. They played hits from across their discography including ‘Do I Wanna Know?’ which marked the fourth time we heard the song during the festival. If you’re curious, Arctic Monkeys did it best.

After our last round of Amish donuts and pretzels (can you sense a theme with our tastebuds?), we caught about three songs from Washed Out before we realized that we blew it and had missed the first part of Broken Bells. The second half of Broken Bells’ set sounded phenomenal, our only regret is that we didn’t make it for the whole thing. If you ever have a chance to see James Mercer perform, whether it be with Broken Bells or with The Shins, do it. Little Dragon was up next and there’s something to be said about humble performers really resonating with a crowd. Their set was fantastic, great transitions and stage presence, but it was really the outro that got ML’s attention. They slowed down their last track while their lead singer, Yukimi Nagano, left the stage first. After a lengthy applause, all while the music is still playing, each remaining member left in slow succession and got to have their own moment to attract some love. We were really impressed with egos being set aside and everyone getting credit for their work.

Wiz Khalifa was the last act before Sir Elton John took his spot as the last headliner. Wiz is always so relaxed on stage that he’s just really fun to watch. We were amused that he performed ’23’, rapping “J’s on my feet,” while wearing Teva’s. I guess that’s fitting… you can’t really skateboard on acres and acres of grass and mud. When you aren’t rapping over your own backing vocal track, you have a pass to wear anything. Elton John closed out Bonnaroo 2014 with medleys of his hits, the crowd was definitely into it but not quite as much as previous royalty, Paul McCartney, who visited The Farm last summer.

Best of the day: Little Dragon

NBA Jersey of the day: Charles Barkley, USA Olympic Team ’96

Fitbit steps on Bonaroo Day #4:

Dj01:

Meaghatron:

Most Played Song at Bonnaroo  (by various acts): Arctic Monkeys’ ‘Do I Wanna Know?’ and Disclosure’s ‘Latch’

She slings rocks and she bodied the A$AP weed carriers. I think I’m in love.

Let us not forget that Uncle Snoop dropped a mixtape this year featuring TeeFlii and Madlib, albeit on separate, equally great tracks. Rick Rock showed up too. Between these and his stalwart efforts on GGN, Snoop carries the title of rap elder statesman with distinction.

Download: Snoop Dogg – Never Had It Like This (ft. Warren G, TeeFlii)

Download: Snoop Dogg – Cadillacs (produced by Madlib)

Download: Snoop Dogg – Terradectacal (produced by Rick Rock)

Day 3 of Bonnaroo 2014 was our most grueling physical test yet. We started the day with a daytime dance session courtesy of the electro-pop duo Classixx who played a dance-worthy selection of their original songs as well their remixes of songs such as  Yacht’s  ‘Psychic City’.  Later we caught Cake which was a trip back in time as everyone at the Which Stage  seemed familiar with their 90’s run of hits, and we’re talking a huge crowd. As we heard the iconic brass section on the ‘Going the Distance’, we couldn’t help but wonder if they also helped father some late 90’s rap-rock. We had a brief intermission where we stopped to check out some of the food trucks and bake in the direct sun to watch some of the Italy vs. England World Cup mega-match. When wandering the Bonnaroo Food Trucks, you can’t go wrong with veteran Roti Rolls, 2nd year in a row that their spicy asian flatbreads made our mouths happily on fire. Refueled and not sunburned (THANKS NUETROGENA SUNSCREEN, PLEASE SPONSOR THIS RAP BLOG) we went to catch some shade with the soul (and really like 5 other genres) legend, Bobby Womack. He hit the stage late with his band dressed to the nines. There’s something nice that there is no mailing it in and wearing dad shorts and t-shirts for musical legends (lookin’ at you, Jimmy Buffet). We only got to see Bobby and his band warm up before the Comedy Theater called. That’s where Craig Robinson showed the festival that not only is he hilarious (Hot Tub Time Machine, anyone?) but extremely musically inclined. At times it actually seemed there was more music than humor which worked in his favor.

With the sun setting, it was the perfect time for the self-dubbed ‘Funk Lordz’, Chromeo, to hit their biggest stage yet in their 3rd Bonnaroo appearance, Which Stage. The duo have boiled down performing to a science with their electro-synthy laden funk tracks arriving in perfect sequence. Dave-1’s energy and interaction with the crowd assured that everyone was grooving for the duration of their set. After Chromeo it was still time to dance (it’s always time to dance), but in a more down-tempo manner, with James Blake. James Blake is an artist who has done an extremely good job of transforming his electro-r&b songs to be just as captivating live as they are in recorded form. Next up was Ms Lauryn Hill, who we were very intrigued to see perform. We were wondering how would she fit in a music festival like Bonnaroo and she answered us loud and clear. She reminded The Farm that she can fit right in and is one of the most talented musicians of our generation. Hitting all sorts of sounds from rock to reggae as she belted out her hit songs (both solo and Fugees)… it’s one of those sets you don’t want to end.  Her massive band, which included 3 back up singers, had the crowd going crazy, and displayed a well rehearsed and executed set list. Ms. Hill still has the voice AND can still rap her ass off, which we think some people forget sometimes.

Not wanting to leave Ms. Hill’s  set early and not wanting to miss any of the SuperJam, we were only able to catch a handful of Jack White’s headlining set which spanned his solo and group material. His whole image and sound is specifically orchestrated, from the outfit down to the mic, and makes it sound like a concert from more than a few decades ago. All of this results in a great rock package. Outside of the music Jack White’s anecdotes and random observations he really had us amused. Including the quote of the day, which came after White observed some floating lanterns that were lit by lasers inside, he thought the contraptions were like

China meets the internet

Passing up more rock and really amazing observations from White, we headed to the Skrillex–hosted SuperJam to cap the night. This performance reminded us that SuperJams are really moments that can’t be missed, simply because they can never ever be replicated again, and that’s something truly unique to this festival. Skrillex had a huge bundle of artist come out, including but not limited to: Mystikal, Mike Einziger (Incbuus), Lauryn Hill, A$AP Ferg, Damian Marley, Jonalle Monae, Matt Shultz (Cage the Elephant), Fatman Scoop, Big Gigantic, Craig Robinson, Robby Krieger (The Doors). There were too many songs to list in the over 3 hour long performance, from covers  (Ferg doing Juicy) to some of the artists’ biggest hits (Monae’s Tightrope) often reworked into longer jams. It was really an experience that you know you’ll be thinking back on years later. By curating this sort of lineup and playing guitar throughout, it also changed our whole perception of Skrillex showing that he is much more than just an EDM DJ.

Best of the day: Ms. Lauryn Hill

NBA Jersey of the day: Bobby Hurley, Sacramento Kings

Fitbit steps on Bonnaroo Day #3:

Dj01:

Meaghatron: 

Altanta rap is so weird right now that it’s almost not worth mentioning when a guy starts squealing and ululating on a Mike Will beat. Almost. Rae Sremmurd (think about it) is a duo under Mike Will’s tutelage whose modus operandi is hyper-stylized trap freakouts. “We” is Mike’s bleeding edge alternative to his work with Miley Cyrus.