I Just Read About That…

SOUNDTRACK: O.C.-Tiny Desk Concert #732 (April 18, 2018).

This is where I get to complain again that The Breeders had three songs when O.C. [Omar “O.C.” Credle], whom I have never heard of (although he is apparently a classic) gets five songs in nearly 19 minutes.  Bogus.

As a member of Brooklyn rap collective Diggin’ In The Crates, Omar Credle, aka O.C., helped shape what was known as the golden age of 1990s rap. Marked by loops sourced from jazz recordings and lyrics rooted in one-upmanship, O.C’s two ’90s albums made him a rapper’s rapper, an underground star.

I’ve never heard of him but he is sure confident in his crew’s impact (which seems about right I guess.  It’s interesting that they were known for sampling, but they have a live band.  The band sounds fantastic by the way.

O.C. was joined at his Tiny Desk by Soul’D U Out, a jazz ensemble led by Grammy-winning trumpeter Maurice “Mobetta” Brown. The live instrumentation replicated the sample-heavy original recordings perfectly.

They mostly play old songs, but they start with a new one: “New Day,” from O.C.’s 2017 album which features young R&B singer Tay Bell on the hook.  Bell’s vocals are quite high-pitched.  I thought he was a woman at first (just hearing him, not seeing him).  But his voice adds a great fullness to the song.  That live trumpet is amazing, as is the quiet fuzzy guitar from Marcus Machado that runs throughout the song.

He says he wants to get into the old stuff.  He asks, “How many over 45?”  A woman replied, “Oh, that’s wrong.”  He laughs and says, “I’m only 23.”

The rest of the set was vintage cuts from O.C.’s heyday. “Day One,” a D.I.T.C. posse cut, featured emcee and producer Lord Finesse.

Robert “Lord Finesse” Hall gets a verse, which he delivers with a great style I actually like his more than O.C.).  I also love the vibes even if they are only on keys (by Chris Robs).,  He says that the song is about “20 years of history.”  Referring to other rappers, he says, “we birthed a lot of them, they might not say it, but I will. without D.I.T.C, there’d be no digging n the record crates. ”  I seriously doubt that statement, but whatever.

Then O.C. treated the crowd to a version of “Return of the Crooklyn Dodgers” (the one and only song by him, Jeru The Damaja and Chubb Rock).

I was more impressed by the trumpet than anything else.  The sounds he gets at the end are amazing.

He had to fit in his seminal banger and arguably most popular song, “Time’s Up,” from Word…Life.

He says “I hated this record when I made it but people convinced me to do it.”  Huh.  I like the cool bass from Parker McAllister that runs through the song.

The finale got personal when O.C. relayed the importance of the song “Born 2 Live.” “This is dedicated to a friend of mine who got killed down in Baltimore,” he said. “Every time I do this record, it’s somber. … But it’s a celebration at the same time. So I’m a just party it out and have a good time with it.” With a little help from Soul’D U Out, we did, too.

I’m only a little disappointed that the drummer (Camau “Klutch” Bernstine, whose hair is awesome) didn’t get to show off a bit more. He was really solid but there was nothing fancy.

I’m not bummed that he got 20 minutes, because I enjoyed his set, but let some other folks go over time too!

[READ: April 17, 2018] “A Flawless Silence”

Yiyun Li is perhaps the most consistently enjoyable New Yorker author for me.  I love the pacing of her stories and I love the way she tackles large and small personal issues sometimes at the same time.

This story is about a woman, Min.  She grew up in China but moved to America when her now husband proposed to her. As the story begins, she is with her twin daughters in the car.  They are fighting , of course, until one of them says that Kevin, a boy in their class is a Republican.

How do they know?  Because the teacher instructed them to write to either presidential candidate and while everyone class wrote to Hilary Clinton, he chose to write a supportive letter to the male candidate (Yiyun Li uses his name but I don’t feel compelled to).

Kevin’s mother Sandra confided in Min that she was horrified to hear about this and even thought about asking the teacher to take the letter off the wall.

Sandra told Min that her husband was a huge supporter of the male candidate and on election night he had his son watch the results with him (while she went to bed).  Sandra called him a bigot and then he said some things to her and it got heated.

Min’s husband also voted for the man.  But Min was quiet and did not say anything.

When Min says “Don’t you sometimes want someone’s death so much that you almost relieve the person could die just because of your wish?  Sandra assumes she is talking about the president and says “I’m sure you’re not the only one who feels that way.”

But Min wasn’t thinking about politics when she said that.  She was thinking about the other storyline in this story.  A few times a year, around the major Chinese holidays, Min received an email from a man she had met twice.  He would update her on his life and ask her about her own.

Most people in her position would have told the man to stop emailing in her, but she didn’t.  This last time he said that he was now 84 which meant she must be 44.  The fact that he was thinking about her that much made her very upset.

This man was more or less responsible for Min’s current marriage.  He had called upon her family to try to set her up with one of his sons.  But it seemed to Min, who was 19 at the time, that the man was more interested in her for himself.  He never did anything outwardly, exactly, but his manners and behaviors hinted at his true intentions.

She had tried to avoid him and when her mother found out that she wasn’t interested in the man’s boys, her mother found someone else–her current husband.  This man was no prize.  He valued money above all else.  He was from their village but was working in America.  When he came home for a visit they met up and then continued to write to each other.

She almost felt compelled to turn to this rich American for fear of what else could be there

Her marriage was a shame but she was too quiet to ever say anything.  At least her daughters knew that they should vote for Clinton (even though he told her to make sure to never to talk to their girls about politics).

There are amazing details throughout the story that really flesh out all the characters.  The end offers a glimpse that maybe Min is stronger than she thought.  One hopes.