Lean & Mustard

Mustard On The Beat (at) Ho(me) still. Love the bass pressure in this one. Doesn't August Alsina (and Mustard brings his a game on the beat) just capture losing it perfectly, that point where you're so wasted (sorry faded), just when it's all gonna go pear shaped. Cough mixture be the drink of choice among this lot, Reynolds reliably informs me. I was comparing the wasted sound of this scene' tunes to being sonically akin to mixing painkillaz (and by that I mean codeine or Oxycontin) with alcohol & whatever else. Dextromethorphan is a popular ingredient in cough medicine in America, which in high doses can causes hallucinations. But the cough mixture of choice is the one containing codeine and promethazine. It all reminds me of a story Jim Carroll wrote in his book Forced Entries, if memory serves, about the New York scene in the early 70s. When there was a heroin shortage they'd get into the cough syrup with the codeine in it, just get it over the counter at the Chemist (Aussie term for drugstore) no questions asked.  There was a great Townes Van Zandt track too, Waitin' around to die, that was a love song of sorts to one his many drugs of choice codeine. Now kids and the rappers mix these syrups with soda and call it lean which my brother in law told me about last year. I think I was asking him "what do you reckon is in those red polystyrene cups in all these music videos?" He then said "You mean lean." I went "right" thinking it was something like what the Peruvian musicians have been into since the 60s, Chicha. Chicha being an old Inca alcoholic drink that was used in rituals and festivals. Anyway I was a bit off the mark. Actavis (the pharmaceutical company) even pulled the plug on production on their Promethazine Codeine syrup a month ago due to its growing cult and the way it's being abused. Lean apparently causes euphoria along with motor skill impairment and a dissociative feeling from other parts of the body("I can't feel my face, I'm so numb") . Some rappers have even been overdose victims of Lean mixed with other substances. The promethazine is the catalyst for intensifying the euphoric effects of the codeine in your system. There's a whole list of other slang names for Lean: Purple Drank, Sizzurp, Texas Tea etc.

A cumbia/Chica tune from 1970. Sex Drugs & Tropical Chicha! Good vibes on this one man.

Ha Ha Drake Mofos

Well here Drake sets us straight with what's up with his sex, drugs & Rap. Who knows what they're smokin though? It's not something I've probably even heard of, let alone seen, let alone smoked (getting old). Sex high on pot was always a pretty dodgy and preposterous proposition, usually completely out of the question, so I'm guessing it's not that.

On another tangent has anyone ever noticed some of Drake's trax are a lot like Burial. They seem to have remnants of the hardcore continuum scattered throughout, is that just me? Never read a review on him so I wouldn't know if people are hip to that. Burial could have produced Nothing Was The Same for all I know. It's probably just both artists using the same musical equipment and coming up with a similar feel despite being from different traditions. I must admit the only Drake tune I knew before listening to this album was this really bloody annoying video that was on channel V every 5 minutes. So I couldn't stand him. In fact I would switch the telly off if it came on. Sonically diggin this LP a lot. Dunno 'bout the words yet though. He doesn't seem very cool but hey that hasn't stopped Kanye being an erratic genius.

Sex Drugs & Ratchet

DJ Mustard's still on the beat round these parts. Reynolds mentions a few more here This one I can't deny. I love that minimal spooky fade out at the end but Mustard makes spooky a 'subdued mood of depressive hedonism.'* That's the best description I've heard so far of this sub genre of a sub genre.

Mustard has turned me around on other things. I couldn't get into this at all when it came out. I knew the sonic production was v cool. I thought it was depressing though but now I get that downer euphoric vibe. Like painkillaz and alcohol. I'm not even sure what other drugs this relates to weed, ice? A heroin-y E maybe? Anyway it's a hell of a vibe. Only took me 2 years to get it. Jesus what next Drake?

Actually It was probably this tune that got me to go back and listen to Kendrick Lamar's Good Kid... cd. How is Mustard not on this beat?

I hated Gas Pedal when I first heard it, then hated it again when I gave it another go. I think it was Reynolds who said (and I agreed) it was just a rip off of Snoop & Pharell's Drop It like Hot but then he had it in his singles of the year. So I gave it another go, still hated it. 5 months later now I'm fully into it. The druggy vibe can't be too wasted because they still be horny dudes. The vibe of this song encompasses a panopoly of drugs and alcohol while being on the prowl for some tush (kids, that means booty).

Then there's magic! (I know this is a bit off topic but it kinda fits.) I get chills every time I hear this. I mean it's pop, it's got hooks and it's so fucking anthemic I can't believe it. And I hate that whole New York cultural tyranny thing, makes me never wanna go there. But this song is so good it doesn't matter what it's about. It could be about my dog doing a poo and I'd still get chills every time I heard it. Z does mention E's, well MDMA during this track so that gives you an idea of where the euphoria in this lies. I mean apart from the songwriting and musical arrangement which is enough. A bit like MBV's best tunes it's so euphoric it feels like your on drugs anyway. This is the sonic equivalent of Champagne and an E chased with a few lines of coke.

Also I think this maybe the best pop tune in history.

*That's me paraphrasing a Simon Reynolds quote.