The decline in activity on Metal Lungies of late can be ascribed to the personal trials and tribulations our staff faced this year. You might not always realize it, but DJ01, Meaghatron, and I are human beings as much as we are music bloggers with cool Internet handles – and every once in a while, being told to go fuck ourselves because we didn’t like a Wiz Khalifa verse can really sting.
But that is no excuse for neglecting our duty to you, the dear reader. Instead, please find our specific excuses for neglecting our duty below.
DJ01 told anyone who would listen at last year’s Christmas party that Metal Lungies was about to have a monster year. That spirit carried us until January 15th when he dashed out of his office to tell us Bed Bath and Beyond had dropped their plans to sponsor the Beat Drop and we would be footing the bill for 10,000 Metal Lungies non-stick cookware sets (DM me if you want one of these shits). Needless to say, DJ01 was in no mood to blog about fucking Cheez N Dope 2 or whatever for a while after that (no disrespect to Project Pat).
Meaghatron didn’t fare much better as a design intern for Kanye West’s creative something-something DONDA. Her ambitions and portfolio fell by the wayside when she found out her job was mainly stalking Fendi and Louis Vuitton execs and trying to force on them manilla envelopes full of Kanye’s design documents. Once, while being hauled out of an office by security, one of the envelopes fell open and she saw a colored-pencil sketch of Kim Kardashian styled as Cleopatra giving birth to her and Kanye’s baby on board the Millennium Falcon. She says her three writing credits on Yeezus were little consolation.
Me? I’m not gonna lie, I hit the bottle pretty hard when they shut down Google Reader. I would wake up, catch an episode of Fresh Prince of Bel Air at 9:30, and then just start drinking. My moment of clarity came when I was at a Migos concert at The Westway and I projectile vomited onto someone (it might have been Troy Ave, I’m not sure what he looks like) partway through screaming the “Versace” hook.
I tell you all of that to tell you this: the Lungies are back like cooked crack. We have a new design that makes other rap blogs look like trash and we a have a backlog of music to share with you that would make Funkmaster Flex bomb the city back to the stone age. We promise to make updates as often as our personal lives/substance abuse problems allow.
Metal Lungies is trying to make things more professional around here. Everyone here at ML wanted to share a little a bit about ourselves to show, you, our reader that we are more than robots writing about raps and falafel.
Dj01
Alexandra ‘Dj01’ Goldberg is a 45 year old married mother of two/ hip hop fanatic living in a suburb of Washington DC . She fell in love with the rap game by accident, when she lived on the same NYU dorm floor as Rick Rubin. She thought the iconic Def Jam logo that was being plastered all over was “super rad and edgy” and became intrigued by the music the logo represented. While she never realized her dream of becoming the first female to carry crates for the Beastie Boys or DJ Red Alert, she was did have a wildly heralded collection of scrapbooked photos of rappers (which she hopes to tumblerize in the next year).
When a girlfriend told Alexandra about internet journaling, she orignally started Metal Lungies on LiveJournal. When she isn’t posting breaking news like the latest behind the scenes 15 second youtube preview clips on Metal Lungies she has a few passions. Alexandra is really passionate about neatly cataloging .jpegs of some her all-time favorites like Nas (Alexandra has the God Son tattooed on her thigh) to newcomers like Machine Gun Kelly. She also enjoys to neatly compile freestyles of big songs of the moment like ‘Stay Schemin’ by various rappers on her iPod shuffle to play in her Honda Odyssey for her two sons, Larry & Mac to enjoy on their way to school.
KnobbzXL
KNOBBZXL is Ruth Gallow, 47, of Farmingdale, New York. Ruth grew up as a field hockey phenom and a Miss Teen USA semifinalist – certainly not a hip-hop head. But that all changed during her sophomore year at Barnard when she struck up a conversation with Popa Wu at poetry slam. They were fast friends and Ruth will be the first to tell you that it was she who designed the Wu-Tang logo, not Allah Mathematics. “I still have the page from my Multivariable Calculus course pack as proof!” she claims. Ruth was a mainstay on the tour bus after she introduced the Clan to her mother’s famed tofu steak.
Her kids Johnathan, Amy, and Derek have the distinction of having the only mom in Mulberry Estates who edits a rap blog. Alexandra “DJ01” Goldberg reached out to Ruth in 2007 after downloading one of her blend tapes from DatPiff and the two have collaborated on Metal Lungies ever since. Ruth hosts a weekly workshop on the Five Percent Nation at the local library and she has an Etsy store where she sells Shaolin Shadowboxer mittens and scarves. “With Bob Digi’s blessings, of course!” she adds.
Meaghatron
Ed ‘Meagatron’ Nelson is a 56 year old music enthusiast currently spending most of his year in Baltimore, MD. When he isn’t scouring the internet for new music and frequenting venues he makes his living whittling small wooden figurines. He relocated near the Mason/Dixon line so that he could focus his business on becoming an expert whittler of Civil War memorabilia but also so that he could become a larger part of ML. Ed met Alexandra when she bought one of his figurines for her aunt. She noticed that he had one of her favorites (Curren$y) playing in the background and it sparked a conversation that has since progressed into where ML is today.
I’m Meg (although from here on out I’ll be going by Meaghatron) and I’m the new kid here at ML so be gentle with me. I’m from Chicago which you’ll see seems to have a lot of influence in what I gravitate towards. I have an affinity for what you may loosely refer to as indie music, as well as electronica, but the real way to my heart is through remixes, there’s nothing better than a perfectly crafted remix. My friends have all gotten sick of me starting sentences with “Have you heard of…” so I figured I needed to move on to a larger audience, hence my arrival to the world wide web.
You’ll see me posting from a wide range of topics from music (obviously), to sick artists you should look out for, to fashion (because we all wanna look good right?). It’s an honor to be thrown in with the talented writers that reside on this site and I can’t wait to be a part of it :] You can see a little more of what I’m about with my last.fm.
Well, I’ll leave you with this for today (probably NSFW):
ML Note: We’ve invited Meg, a friend of ML to liven things up around these parts. ML has always dabbled in stuff that isn’t just the rappity raps and Meg will lead the charge in getting ML readers hip to all sorts of new things. Be on the lookout for her proper introduction tomorrow. Lastly, don’t confuse Meg with MegH, who turned out to be ML’s own Detox of sorts after such a buzzworthy entrance.
Two weekends ago at The Metro in Chicago, Princeton served as the calm between two explosive acts and thank god someone had the foresight to set it up that way. DAAN, the first opening act, was a barrage of over the top homoerotic theatrics that didn’t help their music in the least. Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for theatrics, but I found it physically impossible to give the music its fair share of attention when I had a gyrating crotch (covered in god knows what) 3 inches from my face. It was simply performance art gone horribly wrong.
When Princeton finally took to the stage the whole audience seemed to breathe a sigh of relief; normal boys doing normal things with instruments. They started off their set with two groove-inducing numbers that got the entire crowd dancing. It was great to see how their sound has evolved since the release of Cocoon of Love. They’ve moved from following in the footsteps of Vampire Weekend and Ra Ra Riot and are blazing a trail of their own. This clearly seemed like a conscious move for them when a girl in the crowd kept screaming “PLAY SHOUT IT OUT!!” (the quintessential crowd pleaser from Cocoon of Love) and frontman Jesse just jokingly replied with “you’re not invited to any more shows”. Princeton played their entire set with humble earnestness that made you feel like you were watching your close friends play. They have something special and I would be surprised if they didn’t blow up even more in the indie scene in the months to come. Hopefully with their next album Princeton can finally make the jump from opener to headliner. They obviously have a fan base and they aren’t lacking in talent so I find it confusing that even now, two years after Cocoon of Love was released, they’re still an opening band.
Although I think Princeton would serve well as a headliner, they did a fantastic job setting the stage for CSS. CSS proved to be a completely energetic show where I found it hard not to dance while trying to photograph the band. They played crowd favorites from their last album, Donkey, and also a few tracks from their upcoming album La Liberacion. Judging by the teaser they gave the crowd of the album dropping in August it’s going to be just as good if not better than Donkey. Lovefoxxx (is that not the coolest stage name?) had people losing themselves in dance in the crowd and it was clear that everyone in the venue only had eyes for her. She sat on my shoulders for a hot second, I’ve never felt so privileged to literally act as a piece of furniture. They closed out their set with a three song encore consisting of two older songs and one brand new which they engineered well and served as the perfect ending to the night.
Recent misunderstandings between the Metal Lungies staff and certain members of the hip-hop community have caused us to re-evaluate our priorities. We got some pretty alarming voice messages this afternoon from Bun B, Ilyas of Tanya Morgan, Noz of Cocaine Blunts, and The Fat Jew. For our safety, we are going to lay low until this whole thing blows over. Or we’re all dead. We look forward to spending time with our neglected-mothers.
…You can tell me yours when you catch your breath. Wink. I’m a senior at a central Pennsylvania university known for its parties, its football, and its cows, but Bodymore, Murdaland [let me hear you Wire fans!] is the place that I call home. I love Metal Lungies for the same reasons you do- the witty retorts, the honest reviews, and, of course, the music- but that’s not why I’m here. DJ01 has asked me aboard, and I have graciously accepted his mission, to put my useless endless knowledge of pop culture to good use by joining the boy toys at ML as your newest, blondest, current affairs collaborator. Think of me as a prettier Colbert: reporting daily and dedicated to giving you the skinny on the happenings of the music industry and beyond. Sit back. Relax. Watch me put the ‘pop’ in hip (h)op.
So you are probably still asking where I’ve been hiding out, kinda lacking on the posting front? I’m actually working on bonding with my cat thanks to the advice this lady has blessed my life with. Be back soon. MAJOR WHISKER ALERT till then.
OH SHIT. Aziz (of Human Giant/Parks & Recreation/Funny People fame) drops such a crazy hot exclusive, I had to play it 8 times in a row before my ipod died. heat rock. Download/listen/stream now.
Sidebar: I’m sorry for the lack of updates (and e-mail responses) lately (ie last 6 months), real life/9 to 5/debilitating twitter addiction have been getting in the way heavily. But you best believe your boy will overcome.
ML is back at the live blogging thing, but we’re kicking it up a notch. Ever since hearing Wale dub himself Wale Ovechkin on Back In the Go Go , we wondered how perfect it would be to document Wale’s experience at a Washington Capitals game. With major assists from elitaste, dcsports bog and Nate with the Washington Capitals, we are gonna make it happen. Right before Wale goes into his crazy busy week, join us right here at a little before 7pm as Wale, DMV legend Jay Promo, and myself live blog Wale Ovechkin’s first Capitals game, followed by meeting Capitals Superstars Alex Ovechkin & Mike Green after the game. Using our coveritlive widget you’ll be able to interact, ask questions, and follow this whole experience. If you’ll be at the game be sure to say what up!
Video / Photos will be posted up after the game, so be sure to check back for those as well!
Alexandra ‘Dj01’ Goldberg is a 45 year old married mother of two/ hip hop fanatic living in a suburb of Washington DC . She fell in love with the rap game by accident, when she lived on the same NYU dorm floor as Rick Rubin. She thought the iconic Def Jam logo that was being plastered all over was “super rad and edgy” and became intrigued by the music the logo represented. While she never realized her dream of becoming the first female to carry crates for the Beastie Boys or DJ Red Alert, she was did have a wildly heralded collection of scrapbooked photos of rappers (which she hopes to tumblerize in the next year).
