Beyonce Ain’t Kwalified
Beyonce’s half time show at the Superbowl this past weekend did nothing for me… sorry. So sue me! Her outfit was ugly,the screen with 27 other Beyonces was annoying, and neither Destiny nor the Child impressed me. I know many people though her outfit was too risque. I know many found he to be drop dead sexy. And, I am sure others just watched intently hoping for a wardrobe malfunction (which a quick Google search reveals seems to have happened). For me, it was a chunk of time that I should have spent listening to something else.
Ok, so that’s out of the way. Now, I’ll write about something that does do something for me… the music of Kevin “Kwalified” Richie aka “Kwal of the Ill Hill Society” aka “that shirtless dude over there smoking a joint” aka… well I guess that’s it for now. Over the past few years, I have been enjoying the tunes he puts out and getting to know him. We have some mutual friends from the rap world and he’s a pretty cool dude. What I am trying to say here is that you should stop listening to Beyonce and listen to Kwal instead… and during a life show, there’s an almost certainty that there will be a wardrobe malfunction.
While, I think his Kevin Arnold EP is still my favorite release, it’s probably because I’m a giant nerd. In fact, it’s undeniable that his newest album, We Makin’ Music Doe, shows maturity in songwriting, lyricism, and production. Despite my preference of listening to EP about The Wonder Years, it’s safe to say that Kwal continues to grow as an artist.
While I am unsure which track is my fave, I will go with the opener, “Time” which features Kwal’s own cousin, Weirdo TC and Joe Kerr. Oddly, the style of the track is not really the sound I gravitate towards, but there is an appeal to this track. “She Spoke” could easily be my favorite as well. I enjoy the flow of this track a ton.
Kwal is a huge fan of my favorite emcee of all time, Pigeon John, and I think that influence comes through from time to time. Perhaps that’s part of Kwal’s appeal to me… but whatever it is, I really enjoy him and this album.
In closing, I leave you with Kwal’s Top 5 Albums of 2012, as per a text convo a few weeks back… Swing Low Magellan by The Dirty Projectors, GKMC by Kendrick Lamar, Life is Good by Nas, Duality by Captain Murphy, and I’m a Hitta by Li’l Durk. He also noted that CookBook‘s The Smell of Success was up there with the year’s best.
You didn’t notice Beyonce creep onto that top 5 list, did you? I didn’t think so!
either way, we can drive all night... 