Rep Yo' Set

A city like any other...?

K.T. - "I Tried To" (Feat. Masta Ace) (mp3)
(purchase here)

Bawston Strangla - "Murphy's Law" (Feat. QStrange) (mp3)
(purchase here)

What's you city's flavor?

If you can answer this question, I actually envy you. Having spent most of my life in metropolises (Los Angeles, Tokyo, New York), I've always had the cop-out response: "cosmopolitan." Hardly inaccurate, it is also highly undescriptive of these immense and immensely varied cities. Hence, my endless fascination with the "mid-sized" metropolis, like Philly, Oakland, and D.C. Each has that unique mix of American soul and Amerikkkan uckfery (race/class struggle, migration flux, and plain ol' drayma) that pushes them to the top of so many lists: from most number of publicy commisioned murals to most number of murders. Yet, each is also compact enough to comprehend and appreciate after just a handful of visits. D.C.'s got its corporate slant, but with a southern comfort. Oakland is uncompromising and proud. Needless to say, I was excited to visit Boston. And how seemingly timely and propitious that I received the Boston State of Mind comp right before my trip. Key word: seemingly.

The beauty I appreciate most in the mid-size is its distinct local flavor. While the metropolis filters down ideas from its disparate denizens, the mid-size draws on tha diversity, but at a smaller scale. Frankly, the local identity is easier to spot and can be embraced immediately. So, I was disappointed that a city with a history of talent -- where my Bulldogs at? -- would be repped by a comp that could've been produced anywhere, at least in New England.

First strike goes against its New York slant -- doesn't help that the biggest names here are Brooklyn natives Masta Ace, Agallah, and EZ Elpee. Second goes against the run-of-the-mill sampling that is indistinct and unremarkable. Case in point for the first two strikes? K.T.'s "I Tried To." Don't get me wrong, it's not bad: but 12 other tracks like this on a 17 track disc that claims to rep for Beantown's set? That sounds more like, "We can do it, too!" as opposed to the more empowering, "This is how we do it!"

Last strike goes against stereotypes, which brings us to Bawston Strangla's "Murphy's Law." You don't even need to listen to the track to deconstruct the H.A.M. happening here. Ok, take a listen. Now go watch The Departed.

What's sad is that it only took a Ctown bus ride over MassPike to get a message from the city. Fuck, even in a blue state like California, you don't see a real estate baller initiating a PR campaign like this. Waht tha fu~g, indeed.

Beans, there's something else in your water, so in the meantime sintalentos is watching you.