SOUNDTRACK: MULATTO-Tiny Desk (Home) Concert #117 (November 25, 2020).
Most of the Tiny Desk (Home) Concerts have been live (or slightly edited). This one is clearly not. There are many times when as she crosses her leg one way, a quick cut shows her with her legs crossed the other way. So I’m not sure what’s going on–if it’s multiple takes or just her lip-syncing, but it’s very disconcerting.
Mulatto, known as Big Latto has released her debut album, Queen Of Da Souf,
At a time when women in hip-hop are running laps around the guys without so much as shifting their lace fronts, Latto is finding her footing in the new rap canon with Gold-charting singles and standout freestyles.
Also, who knew this was a thing:
As the inaugural winner of the Lifetime reality show The Rap Game and someone who’s made music since the age of 10, the personality that Latto brings to her bars is goofy, assertive and steadfast. Latto rocks an aqua wig and raps perched from her throne.
I really like that the first song features a live violin (Joy Black). It’s such an interesting idea and she plays some fast, intense strings. It works perfectly.
“Blame Me” is a slower sone. The melody sounds more than a little like “The Way It Is.”
It’s not until “He Say She Say” when Latto rises up from her seat to put extra emphasis behind this reminder: “Self-made b****, hell you talkin ’bout? / Yea, I got it out the mud, no handout.”
“He Say She Say” has a cool off-kilter almost horror movie melody from keyboardist SK. Her singing and rapping is really good, but I get really bored of all the bitches and f-bombs and n-words. I realize that that’s the street and the way young people talk, but it gets really monotonous.
[READ: December 20, 2020] Long Way Down: The Graphic Novel.
Jason Reynolds wrote the novel Long Way Down in 2017. This graphic novel adaptation has some great artwork by Danica Novgorodoff
This is the story of William Holloman–Will.
The story starts out with Will and his friends on the basketball court. His friend Tony is a great player but he is short and he knows you can’t go pro if you’re short. Will’s brother Shawn comes over to say hi to them. Then there is a gunshot. Everybody
Did what we’ve all been trained to do. Pressed our lips to the pavement and prayed the boom, followed by the buzz of a bullet, ain’t meet us.
But this time it hit Shawn.
When bad things happen, we can usually look up and see the moon big and bright shining over us. But when Shawn died the moon was off.
Novgorodoff does some wonderful color work in these scenes–really creating a range of emotions in a small space.
Will says that crying is against The Rules:
- No crying.
- No snitching.
- Revenge. If someone you love gets killed, find the person who killed them and kill them.
Carlson rigs was Shawn’s so-called friend. He was trying to get into a gang. Will knows that he shot Shawn as part of his initiation. Will’s plan was to wait for Riggs in front of Riggs’ building. With Shawn’s gun.
He gets on the elevator on the 7th flor at 9:08:02AM. Buck gets on with him. Buck died some time ago. Buck was like a father t o Shawn. Buck even gave Shawn the gun that Will was holding right then. Buck taught Shawn the rules.
At the 6th floor a girl gets on. She is fine. She says she knows him. It’s a girl he had a crush on back when they were 8 or 9. She kissed him once on the playground. Just before she was shot. She asks him what if he misses. What if he misses?
On the fifth floor is Will’s Uncle Mark. Mark was a filmmaker–Novgorodoff has a different drawing style for the film scenes.
On the fourth floor [at 9:08:22] is Will’s father. Will says he’s been waiting for him since he was three. His dad was killed because he killed the man who killed Uncle Mark.
But when his dad revealed that he killed the wrong guy, Will realizes that his father was a misser. Then his dad pulls the gun out of his packet and puts it to his head. Is it real? It feels real.
On the next floor a stranger gets on. He doesn’t acknowledge the other dead people. He must be real. But then Buck introduces him as the man who killed him. The man whom Shawn killed.
With one floor to go Shawn gets on.
The lobby doors open at 9:09:09. The bulk of the story takes place in one minute and seven seconds. Will has a decision to make.
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