SOUNDTRACK: SPILLAGE VILLAGE-Tiny Desk (Home) Concert #101 (October 23, 2020).
I never imagined that a video filmed in a church would have an explicit language warning at the beginning of it. But such is Spillage Village.
The Atlanta collective consists of Dreamville records standouts J.I.D and EARTHGANG along with Jurdan Bryant, Hollywood JB, Benji and Tiny Desk alumnus Mereba. R&B star 6lack, also a member of the group, was unable to make it to the shoot due to travel restrictions.
There’s 12 people in the church (let’s hope they are all tested since they are not social distancing). And seven of them are rapper/singers. The rest is a live band, and they are tight. They sound great. It’s amazing how much a live band can add to a rap concert.
Musically, “End of Daze” is very cool with funky bass from Benji and lots of grooving wah wah solos from the guitarist on the back. The verses are rapped and everyone gets a turn. What I especially liked was the diversity of voices and styles.
WowGr8 goes first. He has a cool accent and delivery. JID has a fantastic style–his voice is higher than the others and very distinctive. Mereba has one of the best verses–referencing Nipsey Hustle’s murder. Jurdan has the most conventional-sounding delivery. Hollywood JB seems a but more lighthearted in his delivery. Then OLU (dressed in a fantastic suit) sings his verse. He has a great singing voice. While he sings his verse and the song fades sprinkling keys twinkle. They all sing the super catchy chorus. The backing band is apparently all related but someone is playing the keys and the credits don’t say who: Justin Barnett: guitar; Jerramy Barnett: bass; Nick Barnett: guitar; Dj Barnett: drums.
Christo the DJ starts out “Baptize” with a sample. OLU raps. I love his delivery–.his verse is choppy and funky. JID takes the next verse, and I like him even more. The song has a fun sing along chorus which seems strangely raunchy for a song about baptism. WOWGr8 takes another verse and shows off some really fast rapping.
Before the next song, someone’s phone rings and one of them says “turn off your phone in church.” Mereba sings this next song, which she says is called “Hapi.” After she says this, someone sings “because I’m happy…) very quietly. The song proves to be a full on gospel type song. Mereba has a kind of spoken word section and then OLU croons beautifully.
“Jupiter” ends the set. Mereba grabs an acoustic guitar and the whole group sings an almost campfire singalong. The church does feel like an appropriate setting for these last two songs.
I’m really impressed by this group.
[READ: November 15, 2020] Where Are We Now?
Glenn Patterson is from Belfast, Northern Ireland. This novel is a small (in scope) story about life in Belfast. I don’t know that I’ve ever read a story that focused in such detail on the daily life in Belfast, post-Troubles. The Troubles don’t really enter into the story–except that there are ever present reminders of them.
This is the story of Herbie. Herbie is a middle-aged man. I initially assumed he was older middle aged, then I thought he might be younger middle-aged. I don’t believe it is ever stated.
I had a remarkably difficult time reading this book because there was so much I simply didn’t know. Stuff that the average Belfastian person probably knows very well and with no problem.
It started pretty early on when someone says that a person had dumped a Portakabin on one of the roads running up to the hills on the far west of the city.
Okay so first, you have to find out what a Portakabin is (a mobile home of some sort). Then there’s a lengthy talk about who might do such a thing. And I really didn’t understand much of what they were talking about. Although I did like that they conclude that whoever did it could be summed up as The Ungivers of Fuck. (more…)
I Just Read About That... 