I Just Read About That…

SOUNDTRACK: ILL CAMILLE-Tiny Desk Concert #746 (May 25, 2018).

I don’t know if Ill Camille’s style is West Coast, but it definitely differs from a lot of rappers.  Her style is smooth, almost gentle.  “Her voice is like a cool drink on a summer’s day: smooth, clear and replenishing.”

But her lyrics are powerful and thoughtful:

Her refreshing self-awareness and raw honesty are inherent in each song, pairing nicely with the jazzy, melodic rhythms provided by her close knit crew of musicians.

Ill Camille strays a bit from the hip-hop zeitgeist. She raps about love and family serving as the source of her strength, the importance of self-worth as a woman, and the necessity to nurture oneself from within. That core keeps her secure even when confronted by the despair of poverty and the difficult grind of a young artist. And you can hear all that front and center in her music.

She plays 4 songs with a live band.

The first two songs, “Spider’s Jam” and “Live it Up,” feature long time collaborators of Camille’s, Iman Omari on keys and drummer Greg Paul of Inglewood collective The Katalyst.

“Spider’s Jam” is about her uncle.  She sounds almost casual in her delivery, like she;s just speaking not rapping (which is why it’s so cool that it works so well).  The chorus of “handed it down” is pretty cool–very different from pop hip hop.

On “Live It Up,” Greg Paul plays a kind of lite jazz drums style.  Camille says, “This is my version of trap.”  Iman Omari on keys sings the chorus and adds a Jamaican flair to the song.

“Fight On” features guest vocals from emcee Damani Nkosi, who’s been rocking with Camille since her debut album.

Aneesa Strings, a bassist from the Bay Area, provided the low end foundation while also lending her rich vocals to “Fight On.”

I like the shout outs to everyone to fight on.

 “Again,” is an ode to happiness and self-actualization.  It’s got a cool funky bass line.  The break it down section is pretty great and when it comes back out to that great bass line, the song is very cool.

[READ: May 22, 2018] “Stay Down and Take It”

This is a story about an older couple fleeing a storm and something else.

James is home early and he says “goddammit we seriously need to pack.”  They are to “pack light and pack smart.”  Despite the clear skies, something mean and serious is barreling down on them.

James is very stressed and prefers that she not speak on the phone while they are evacuating.  She is annoyed by this but also realizes she is the passenger and the driver should not be stressed out–for her own sake.

She admits “I guess I want James to die.  I don’t want this actively.  Or with malice.  But in a dim and distant way I gently root for James’ absence so that I can proceed to the other side of the years I have left.”

 He says that getting out of the area is the hardest part.  They live on an island, after all.  Well, it wasn’t an island until “they” blew up the tiny connecting land  with dynamite and turned it into an island (which raised housing prices accordingly).  The whole evacuation process is exhausting.

Plus, they

aren’t kids anymore.  We are old.  Older.  Nearly dead.  James is nearly dead, at least.  He shows it.  A husband is a bag of need with a dank wet hole at its bottom. The polar opposite of a go bag.

All of the hotels are full so they keep going inland until they get to the shelter.  It is a big place full of cots and kids.  Nothing that they want to experience–even for a night.   After a rather public fight they decide to get in the car and keep going.

In the car they are able to find some humor in the situation  They mock the name of the hurricane: Boris and wonder if there are other B names they could have chosen: Beelzebub, Bitch Face, Bald Mountain.  Boredom:

Boredom the storm is barreling down the coast. Boredom brings destruction in its wake  Coastal villages are still recovering from the deadly effects of Boredom.

She is now allowed to use her phone for hotels, but nothing is open.

Finally they decide to stop for food.  The place is open but it is so late.  Will the food just make them sleepy as James suspects?  She looks at him in the car and wonders just how sick James might actually be.

Is he as close to death as she fears.  And is that feeling actually fear?

The story started out good and I enjoyed most of it, although the end kind of drifted from me.