I Just Read About That…

SOUNDTRACK: GOLDLINK-Tiny Desk Concert #753 (June 13, 2018).

GoldLink is a D.C. rapper.  The blurb tells us he

acted as if his Tiny Desk performance was a family reunion and took the opportunity to invite everybody and their cousin in as his guests.  To mark the moment, Link wore a crisp T-shirt reading ‘I Told You So’ — a nod to the haters, no doubt — and jumped around his discography to perform cuts from each of his three projects: “Bedtime Story” from 2014’s The God Complex, “Dark Skin Women” from 2015’s And After That, We Didn’t Talk and finally “Some Girl” and “Pray Everyday (Survivor’s Guilt)” from 2017’s At What Cost.

I’ve never heard of GoldLink, so I have no idea what he normally sounds like, but the blurb continues:

instead of the usual Steve Lacy or Kaytranada-aided beats, Link delivered his verses accompanied by a smooth six-piece band and two velvet-voiced singers. (Link’s longtime producer Louie Lastic plays bass for the entire set.)

 I like the fast rapping and 70s vibes of “Bedtime Story”–the strings are a nice touch, too.  As with certain rappers, the repetition of words drives me nuts, especially if they are just spoken.  So “Dark Skin Women”s repetition of “you’re a star come and dance baby” drives me a little nutty.  The backing vocals are pretty, though.

I enjoyed the self-deprecating intro of “Some Girl” I wrote this about an ex … stupid.  But these lyrics, good grief

I met her in the summer, started with a kiss
But she fucked her so good that I had to flood her wrist

Flood her wrist?

The final song “Pray Everyday (Survivor’s Guilt)” begins with a woman stating a prayer:

Lord I pray for wealth and power over all these motherfuckers
For the DMV to reign for many moons
Fuck these rappers, fuck these labels
Fuck these bitches, fuck these bitches, you hear me
They killed my nigga and I pray for revenge
Control me and use me the way you would allow me to
Amen

The DMV?

And then there’s just really bland sex boasting

All my life been addicted to the pussy that’s my vice, yeah
Drinkin’ drinkin’ drinkin’ all my problems
I don’t need nobody, I just need my bottle that’s for certain
Put the pussy on the pedestal

So, yeah, I could take or leave GoldLink.  There’s certainly some good sounds, but it sucks when a rapper’s rhymes are so lame.  Here’s who made it:

D’Anthony Carlos (GoldLink), Kiara Brown (Kelow) (Poet), Elliot Skinner (Vocals), Grace Weber (Vocals), Billy Davis (Musical Director/Keyboardist), Alex Ben-Abdallah (Louie Lastic) (Bassist), Danny McKinnon (Guitarist), Darren Hanible (Lil Dream) (Drummer), Burt Jackson (Trumpet), Marvill Martin (Violinist).

[READ: July 1, 2018] “The Luck of Kokura”

This is an excerpt from Shteyngart’s new novel Lake Success (due out in Sept).

Barry wakes up on a bed, not knowing where he is.  He had fled New York and the hedge fund he worked at.  He has fled his wife and son (and the boy’s autism).

It was the hedge fund (This Side of Capital) that was causing him his troubles. He says he hadn’t done anything wrong–he had shorted GastroLux a new GERD medication that was going to do wonders for yuppies.  He was also a major shareholder in Valupro which had almost bought GastroLux .  Everyone else had piled onto the trade, so why should he have not?

He fled New York with $600 in his pocket and his Rollaboard of expensive watches–his only pride..  He had fled to Atlanta on a Greyhound and crashed at his former coworker Jeff Park’s condo.  The condo was amazing–tastefully decorated and really expensive (even for Atlanta).

As he realizes his surroundings he became aware that he was not wearing the same clothes he had come in with.  Was it Jeff’s wife?

He looked around and was jealous.  Everything was palatial.  It was amazing (even if it cost maybe 1/3 of what it would in NY).  But how could this be, Jeff had been fired from This Side of Capital in disgrace.  Indeed, Barry was rather responsible for his termination.

Jeff had been fired because he omitted a minus sign in a spreadsheet and turned a clear sell into a screaming buy.  The fund was down 150 million by the time the error was caught.

Jeff looked amazing too–youthful, full head of hair and in great shape.  But he wasn’t married, he was looking for that perfect girl.

Jeff says that he is looking for a southern belle and has designed this place with the ladies in mind.  The average girl he dates is five foot six (he has a spreadsheet that lists the attributes of each girl he’s ever dated) .  The lights are designed for girls of that height, the sofa is the perfect height for a five-foot-six woman.

He says he trades two hours in the morning and the rest of the day he works on himself.

Surely news of Barry’s meltdown had reached Jeff so Barry confessed his situation–he was doing his version of On the Road.  He had even thrown out his cellphone.

They went out for the night in (one of) Jeff’s amazing car.  Jeff has a spreadhseet of the best restaurants in Atlanta.  They go t o #17, which Jeff says he will update to #15 after the meal.

Barry stayed for several days and he wanted to stay forever.  They had a great time together.  Barry wanted to feel good for Jeff, but he had no angry wife, no autistic child, no possible subpoena, just two good cars, a seven-figure watch and time to read as many books as he pleased.

Finally they get to the crux–Barry asks for a loan.

That ends this chapter of Barry’s road trip.

I’m looking forward to seeing where else Barry goes, but I’m also curious to read more about Jeff.  I wonder if he returns.