CIVL Station Manager Aaron Levy ruminates on the frustration of youth that brought us a Winnipeg-born phenomenon, known as Sethany, whose hip-hop perspective may laugh in the face of traditional expectations of the stereotypical racial backgrounds of successful hip-hop artists, or may just be satire. I can’t tell.
smrtdeath – “Drug Scars”
“See I’m shining, rocking these / Acne jeans, I’m off two beans / Rough start, just another day / I got drug scars on my effing face / In the glove compartment, got little bottles / And I’ma drink that stuff to kill my problems / Yah, it’s ya boy / And they call me Lil’ Sethany.”
Belladonnakillz – “Yeah Hell Yeah”
Belladonnakillz may just be the turn of the millennium’s precursor to smrtdeath, as their oft-suicidal (and eventually passed after an overdose) singer Peter Moskalyk was obsessed with the dirty, dingy, lavish sensationalism of the underground drug and party scene while writing some killer tunes, hooks, and lyrical couplets.
John Coltrane – “Giant Steps”
A fella so brilliant that not only did he famously get kicked out of Miles Davis’ band for “nodding off” on stage from his problem along the tracks, but he also recorded one of the most challenging and theoretically complex jazz pieces ever to be recorded, covered, and discussed musically!
Weezer – “My Name is Jonas”
From a writer so beloved that upon his death … Oh, wait, this guy never passed away, he just sold his soul to the dark overlord of the underworld, and discontinued his vaunted history of writing quick, catchy, meaningful, and impactful little pop-rock ditties that changed the world for decades.
