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). (more…)
I Just Read About That... 