Moon Man Rising: Kid Cudi Concert Review (8/3/09)
A quick Google or Bing will tell you that the Great Hangover Tour is co-headlined by hip-hop freshmen Asher Roth and Kid Cudi. A trip to one of the shows will tell you that this tour is all about Cudi, and that's a very good thing. When I caught the tour at the Norva Theater in Norfolk, VA, the crowd swelled in size showed more energy for Kid Cudi’s set. He came after Roth, and when college loving rapper went off stage before his encore, the crowd called for Cudi to come on stage making it clear who they really wanted to see.
Also I missed half of Asher's set because I was running late to the show. Considering all this, I'll focus on Cudi's performance in this review.
The lonely stoner's set list included just five songs that were actually off his first album, and that makes sense since it doesn't drop until this September. Kid Cudi's success story is a bit different from most up and coming rappers, and needs some explanation.
His hit single, "Day 'n' Nite," was first written in ‘06 before the world knew Scott Mescudi as Kid Cudi. Its popularity grew and it soon became the single for his first and only mix tape, A Kid Named Cudi, in mid '08. Unlike most hip-hop singles, it only continued to grow in popularity until it peaked just a few months ago in the top ten of the Billboard Hot 100. The song then became the first single for his album Man on the Moon: The End of the Day. With Cudi’s signature singsong flow and unique beats, A Kid Named Cudi delivered music that he said was meant to appeal to people who loved all kinds of music, not just hip-hop. Unsurprisingly he was soon signed to Kanye West's G.O.O.D. Music label. For those of you unfamiliar with hip-hop scene, most new rappers develop their style over the course of multiple mix tapes (which is essentially just a free, somewhat informal album a rapper will release to gain publicity) before establishing themselves and perhaps signing a good record deal. For example, fellow rising star Drake released five mix tapes before being signed by Lil Wayne's Young Money label. Cudi achieved similar success in late '08 without ever having a show on The N (see Drake’s run on the show Degrassi) and just one mix tape. Cudi also worked closely with the Louis Vuitton Don on four songs on 808's and Heartbreak, and lent his singing voice to the hook of "Welcome to Heartbreak."
The songs from A Kid Named Cudi that drove Cudi's popularity were the highlights of the show. A crowd that was seemingly made exclusively of die hard Cudder fans sang and moved to beats of songs like "Down and Out," "Cudi Spazzin'," and "Embrace the Martian." The crowd even knew the unreleased leaks from his upcoming album, "Mr. Solo Dolo," and "Sky Might Fall." The only song that was performed without crowd assistance was the completely unreleased "Heart Of A Lion," which will be the third single for the album.
The set list left little to be desired, and Cudi's performance was flawless. He smiled and seemed genuinely happy as he danced across the stage, and the audience mirrored his mood or maybe it was vice versa. His performance was enhanced by a stage-wide screen of LED's that were operated by the same technician who did the lights for Kanye West's extravagant Glow in the Dark Tour. By the end of the show he had the knowledgeable crowd completely under his control as everyone in the packed Norva Theater yelled in approval at the start of seemingly every song and danced throughout the performance, making the concert hall feel and smell more like a packed frat party dance floor.
So when Cudi performed the second single off of his upcoming album, the Lady Gaga cover\parody "Make Her Say (Poke Her Face)," it made sense that the crowd completely lost its collective shit (that's really the only way to describe it) when Kanye himself came out to perform his verse from the song. His witty lines were barely audible over excited yells of the audience, and for the first time in the set, Cudi didn't hold the audience's complete attention.
Cudi then somehow managed to top the excitement from Mr. West’s surprise appearance with an outstanding rendition of "Day 'n' Nite." The song moved from an a capella first verse, to a normal but still enthusiastic second verse, before launching into the faster paced, more electronic Crookers Remix of the song.
When Cudi went off before the encore, the crowd took time to catch its breath before cheers for both Kanye and Cudi broke out. No one was disappointed as the G.O.O.D. Music duo performed "Welcome to Heartbreak" before Cudi capped the night by himself with one more mix tape track, "Man on the Moon."
As you finish reading this review, you should know that I am a huge Kid Cudi fan. Since I first listened to A Kid Named Cudi last fall, I have been recommending his mix tape to anyone with a slight taste in hip-hop. As purely a Kid Cudi fan, it was a highly satisfying experience to see him in person and have a chance to be surrounded by other fans of the once obscure rapper. As someone who has seen more rap shows than an average white college kid, it was a pleasure to see such a well put together performance in a fairly intimate setting. The quality of the show combined with Kanye West's surprise appearance at the end of the show made this one the best and most memorable concerts I have ever attended, and helped cement my opinion that Kid Cudi is the best up and coming hip-hop artist.
Song of the Week: Butterfly Bones - "xoxo"
I've been looking for some summery, electro-pop all summer, but couldn't find any until Butterfly Bones rolled up on the scene. Pretty Feelings,their debut EP rolls out in the next couple days, so be sure to pre-order your own copy now. But for now, just sit back and enjoy this little tune.
Mole's Main Event - John Cena or: How I Learned to Stop Griping and Accept the Gimmick
Ay Oh tableau! Rob Molster back here with this week’s edition of Mole’s Main Event. This week we delve into one of the WWE’s most popular and most hated superstars: John Cena.
If there is any one wrestler that could represent what the WWE is about today, it’s Cena. He’s charismatic, he’s likable, he’s steroid free (no joke) and he’s ripped (no homo). However, every time his music hits, there’s a consistent reaction. There are very high-pitched screams and a noticeable presence of low-pitched boos. Many times in promos (scripted interviews), Cena’s opponents will slight him by saying that it’s past his fans’ bedtime or that his biggest fans decided to have a tea party instead of coming to see him. While it’s scripted, the insult is not too far from the truth. A large portion of Cena’s fans consists of prepubescents, teenagers, and females. So, why is the WWE marketing a superstar that doesn’t even appeal to their most loyal demographic (adult males)?
In order to answer this question, let’s go over what John Cena has done in the WWE so far. He debuted in the summer of 2002, not really making much noise until later in the fall. On a Halloween edition of SmackDown (WWE’s former Thursday night program), Cena dressed up as Vanilla Ice and rapped. The audience reacted well, and the WWE decided to run with the gimmick, with Cena wearing jorts, throwback jerseys and cutting promos in freestyle rhymes. His freestyles were somewhat entertaining, but mostly cheesy.
Cena released a rap album and has starred in two movies, both produced by Vince McMahon. The album and the movies were great, if your idea of a relaxing day is an afternoon of electroshock. Give him credit though: the album and the movies sold enough to get him money.
Nowadays, Cena has dropped the street guy gimmick and started pronouncing his r’s and such. He’s the WWE’s ultimate babyface (good guy): the clean cut, all American boy. So, why do so many people hate him? There are a few different answers to this question, but there’s one that I think most people will agree with. In truth, Cena’s not that good of a wrestler in the technical sense. He doesn’t possess a wide array of moves and his offense can get pretty stale. Couple that with less than stellar coordination and you can see why fans are disappointed that this is the most popular WWE wrestler. While I will say he has definitely made considerable strides in terms of his wrestling ability since his debut, he’s still not a great wrestler. He’s good at best.
Another reason why people don’t like him is because of his gimmick.You can’t really act like a street thug when you’re billed from West Newbury Massachusetts. That’s like trying to find someone who break dances at Farmington Country Club.
Cena also rubs people the wrong way when it comes to past wrestling icons. He’s a corporate player with a cool head, meaning he’s the exact opposite of Stone Cold Steve Austin and Hollywood Hulk Hogan. Instead of pushing the envelope and doing everything he can to fight the establishment, Cena smiles in the face of corporate America.
So let’s ask the question again: Why is the WWE pushing Cena as their main guy when he’s not that great? The answer is simple: he’s a safe bet. In these times of recession, the WWE cannot afford to take chances. They know that Cena has a large enough fan base that will guarantee Pay Per View event buy rates, TV ratings, and ticket and merchandising sales. If Vince McMahon rubs them the wrong way, he’ll lose big time dough.
At this point, I’ve learned to deal with Cena. He’s boring, he’s bland, he’s predictable, but hey, if he’s this famous, he must be doing something right.
Post written by Robert Molster
Review: The Bloody Beetroots - Romborama
If you imagine Daft Punk and Misfits having some sort of strange lovechild and what that would sound like, you would have a pretty good idea of what The Bloody Beetroots are. I realize this description is not entirely original (as I lifted it from their myspace page), but it really is the best way to describe this Italian duo of electro-punks.
Although they've been remixing and creating original tracks for a couple years now, it is only now that they are getting around to releasing a full-length album. Known as Romborama, the Beetroots' first stab at a full-length album is a bloody good one. Although fans that have been following these DJs will hear more than a few songs they've already heard before, Romborama makes sure to throw in plenty of new tunes as well as re-workings of old favorites to keep the whole thing from sounding like a random collection of their back catalog.
The first thing to understand about The Bloody Beetroots' music is that it is heavy. Almost every track on Romborama straddles a fine line between dance and mosh music, only to usually end up on the dance side of things. This makes sense, of course, because they are DJs, and thus love to make people dance. However, songs like the album's opener, "Romborama," do seem to be a little off-putting at first. With a siren-like synth riff and a screaming Justin Pearson (The Locust) in the background, the song makes the impression that the rest of the album is going to be full of over-the-top intensity that can only be appreciated by a select few, but after a little time with Romborama, it becomes more and more obvious that this is not quite the case.
The second track, "Have Mercy On Us," for example, shows that the Beetroots aren't completely obsessed with balls-to-the-wall intensity. This little track--while having a really dark, goth vibe to it--is very melodic and catchy in many of the same ways that Justice's † appealed to so many. Despite the immediate appeal of hearing more Justice-like tunes, the Italian duo is careful not to spend too much time in this territory, which, thankfully, prevents them from being labeled bargin-bin Justice knock-offs. Instead, they tend to go heavier with a mix of punk and classical vibes. This is most likely due to the fact that the brain behind most of the production work, Bob Rifo, joined a punk band after studying classical music in school.
There are occasional flashes of hip-hop on the album as well, like the rhymes laid down by The Cool Kids on "Awesome," as well as the re-purposing of that same beat for Marracash's "Come La." The sound of having the same beat on two tracks in the same album may sound a bit silly, and that may be; but, the album's got 21 tracks, with the 're-purposed' one at the very end, so it seems a little more like a nice little bonus than an attempt to create two legit songs using the exact same instrumentation.
The album does start to lose a little steam around the half-way point of Romborama with tracks like the fidget-mess that is "It's Better a DJ On 2 Turntables." The song is just so far removed from everything else on the album, and it shows it with its simplistic opening riff and ridiculous, off-the-wall bass storm that it leads into. Then, there's "Talkin' In My Sleep" that is only a slightly altered version of their previously released "Detroit (Ghetto Edit)," not that this is necessarily a bad thing; it is just a little disappointing for anyone expecting a new track at that point.
Another departure from the more standard, Bloody Beetroots fare is "Second Streets Have No Name." The intro seems a bit slow with its light, string-filled intro and auto-tuned lyrics that speak of seeing "the sunset strip in your eyes / I will drive it down," but the progression into the more beat-backed chorus is simply one of the best moments offered up in Romborama. It's just a shame that the song transfers back and forth between it and the auto-tuned and light-hearted sections that bookend the song.
For many familiar with The Bloody Beetroots' older works, there are plenty of new twists on old favorites that will be sure to hold a new level of intrest. The aforementioned "Talkin' In My Sleep" uses a new set of vocal samples, while songs like "Yeyo" and "I Love The Bloody Beetroots" simply benefit from higher production quality this time around. "F*cked From Above 1985" probably benefits the most from its new treatment, as it gets some production love in addition to a fresh coat of vocal work, but pretty much all of the older Beetroot tunes sound better on Romborama.
There is one previously released track that doesn't benefit from any sort of new treatment, however. "Butter," for some reason, seems to make it on to Romborama without being touched in the slightest. I don't really know why this is either, as its unaltered state seems to make it stick out as easily the most dated sounding track in the whole bunch.
Towards the end of the album, a couple excellent, yet significantly different sounding versions of "Warp" can be found in addition to the puzzling-yet-novel "Little Stars" among a smattering of equally as interesting and entertaining tracks. Simply put, the back-half of this album really picks up again and doesn't stop until you reach the repeated beat track that is "Come La."
So, by album's end, The Bloody Beetroots seemed to have laid an astounding number of cards on the table. While some of them don't seem that great, the sheer number of quality tunes to be found on this compilation of 21 tracks far outweigh the cons. It's not a perfect album by any means, but Romborama stands now as possibly the best gateway into The Bloody Beetroots' world, which is all you really need to ask for from a debut.
Artist Watch: Ronald Jenkees
I know that for some of you seasoned YouTube viewers, Ronald Jenkees is probably a bit of a familiar name in the sense that he seems to be rather old news. But, that doesn't mean he is any less worthy of being on artist watch. In fact, he's probably the perfect candidate because he is still awesome, but doesn't seem to be gaining much more visibility in the cloud of crazy that we all like to call the Internet.
If you like what you hear, you can download some of his songs or simply visit his YouTube channel to access a great deal of this peculiar, but talented individual's works.