SOUNDTRACK: CHIKA-Tiny Desk Concert #959 (March 13, 2020).
I’ve never heard of Chika, but she proves to be really fun and funny (while rapping some serious topics).
Her band is jazzy and stripped back:
Chika was also the first hip-hop act to anchor her set with just a Peruvian cajón instead of a full, hard-hitting kit. The surprisingly stripped-down performance allowed her lyrics, with all their nuance, to take center stage — and the result was remarkable.
In addition to the band, were her terrific backing vocalists
The impressive harmonies from Chika’s four backup singers brought all the feels right out of the gate.
She starts with “Industry Games.” Lovely ooohs from the backing vocalists then David Levitan plays an echoing guitar (“both catchy and eerily haunting” that I found reminiscent of the Close Encounters melody). Up comes that cajon with gentle thumps from Dominic Missana. Then she starts rapping.
Moving seamlessly between rap verse and melodic hooks, Chika showcased her unusual tonality, multi-cadence delivery and vocal range, with an effortless, double-time lyrical bounce.
She has a fantastic fast flow (smiling as she goes). It’s interesting hearing the gentle backing vocals that repeat her (sometime harsh) final lines.
She even starts giggling in the middle. She explains later “I say ‘tightest around’ and they sing ‘hottest around’ and it is hysterical to me.”
Before the next song she says, “Everyone brings nice things to the Tiny Desk, like lights… I didn’t bring anything, or so you thought. I brought this Chapstick and I’m gonna place that right here. Fuck anyone who underestimated me.”
She says that “Songs About You.” No shade to anyone. It’s not about y’all. its about you. The song features more nice backing vocals and then a grooving bass line from Chris McClenny.
Before the third song she sends a shout out to her sister who is there. “Shout out to our parents… genetics!” She asks, “What kind of shows are you wearing?” “Puma…” “You should have been wearing ‘Balencies,’ which is the name of the next song. She pauses and waits for the laughter. Then says, “I’m funny. We’re not gonna argue about that. You all didn’t want to laugh… something about that felt racist.”
The backing vocals are wild and weird as it starts, Danielle Withers sounds like a perfect loop of an eccentric vocal line. It’s pretty magnificent–I really hope she goes somewhere with a distinctive voice like that (I see that she has sung with some pretty big names already).
The other singers are (l-r) Jabri Rayford; Darius Dixson and Rachel Robinson (she’s standing on a box).
“Crown” has some great lyrics
I got a habit of rapping ’bout tragic sh-
I think I’m just passionate
Tryna steer the way while in the dark
Hope I ain’t crashin’ it (Woah)
Now my little hobby turned to cashin’ out
Thinking ’bout who I’d be if I listened to doubt
Said I’d never do it, well look at me now
Okay
This is for the kids with depression
The one’s whose parental expectations got them stressin’ (Woah)
The one’s who would rather persevere, bust they ass, tryna make it ’cause-
They ain’t really livin’ in the present
The set ends, oddly enough with “Intro” which is a very quiet song. Gentle guitars and a quiet rap.
This was a really satisfying set. her songs were short and to the point. The lyrics were powerful and affecting and the music was a nice accompaniment.
[READ: April 2, 2020] Astronauts: Women on the Final Frontier
Jim Ottaviani & Maris Wicks worked together on the awesome book Primates. Now they are back sending some primates into space.
I just love Wicks’ artwork. She manages to do such amazing things with such simple-seeming drawings. Her eyes are (mostly) dots, the faces are almost all simple shapes and yet everything she draws is so expressive and conveys exactly what she wants. It is a pleasure to look at anything she draws.
Ottaviani did a lot of research for this book (obviously) and the end is chock full of resources that you can look at to learn more.
As for the book itself, it is “told” by astronaut Mary Cleave. It starts with young Mary being told (by the President) that she was too young for the Astronaut Corp. The letter (from President Eisenhower) did not go on to say that no women were accepted into the Corp, she had to find that out herself.
She was already a practicing pilot at age 14, but that wasn’t good enough. She then jumps over to another girl her own age over in the Soviet Union. Valentina Tereshkova was jumping out of planes and training to be a pilot, because the Soviet Union did not have a sexist component in their system.
But in 1959, even though women like Jerrie Cobb were certainly (physically) capable of becoming astronauts, women simply weren’t chosen. Jerrie Cobb and Janey Hart testified before Congress where sexism (and simple, painful examples are provided) ruled the day. They were even shut down by Jacqueline Cochran, a director at an airline, who said women should not even be pilots because they get married and leave after two years. (more…)
I Just Read About That... 