Admittedly, dear readers, I've never been the savviest of hip-hop scribes. Nah, it would be a sham to claim so. I was born out of my father's Bossa Nova and my mother's disco. I smashed my head on the punk rock and tempered it with metal.
Music is love. A love that can't be denied. A love one must follow into the sick depths of dashiki eclectic nuances. And if one comes through unscathed, then one has earned the right to purchase wax.
I remember my graduation into the world of good music quite vividly. It was 2004 and I was hanging out with a crew of younger dudes in the delivery area of my day job. I popped a tape into the communal hi-fi and I was faced with the blankest stares in the history of all humanity.
It was a little mix thing I enjoyed, replete with N.W.A. and the like. And when one of the dudes doubled back and asked me, "N-double-you-who?" I knew then, right then and there, that all was lost. I'd love to have skipped ahead seven years and dropped this Orion joint on them. Replete with theological questioning, financial turmoil and a sweet piano drive.
And this leads me to the next logical point: The consumer is stupid. Ringtone music exists because the consumer purchases it. STOP. Support good music -- be it hip-hop, punk, zydeco, ambient, whatever! "Tru To Self" is more than just that, it's about being real and reaping just rewards. I am not a native of South Florida, but this shit makes me happy to be a lowly citizen of her ever developing landscape. There's a lesson to be learned here. Let's just hope astute minds are willing to neck it out of the fray and learn.
Displace yourself from bullshit.
Download: Orion's "Tru To Self"
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