On Monsters and Mercy
Get your headphones ready. Tell your talkative coworker you’ll need an uninterrupted moment. Maybe even mark it in your work calendar as a weekly “busy” block. Sweet Chili Time.
How this works: every week you’ll get three songs in the Music section. Then, for those who only want to click on one button (no shame, no shame), we’ll highlight one song in the aptly named Gotta Listen section. Finally, at the bottom, you’ll get an article on art and entertainment.
To subscribe to the Sweet Chili email and get music delivered straight to your inbox, sign up here: sweetchilidelivery.com
MUSIC
Say U Won’t by Brasstracks*
Links: Youtube / Soundcloud / Spotify
I have no idea why this song is named Say U Won’t. All it makes me want to do is say I will. Brasstracks consists of a trumpeter/producer and a drummer. It’s actually pretty challenging to meld jazz and funk elements with an electronic soundscape. Brasstracks does it far better than most and the results are hot sauce.
Have Mercy by Eryn Allen Kane
Links: Youtube / Spotify
You know when you hear the first ten seconds of a song and somehow you know that the singer will become a fixture in your life? That happened to me when I heard Have Mercy. Eryn Allen Kane has a beautiful voice, but what is most impressive is how she employs it. It would be easy — especially when singing about gratitude in the face of adversity — to overwhelm what is wonderfully simple production. Kane, however, picks her spots. She is, at various moments and sometimes during the same moment, confident, vulnerable, strong, tender, and warm. I can’t tell you how excited I am for this artist’s future.
La Plata by Quantic ft. Nidia Gongora*
Links: Youtube / Spotify
It’s incredibly hard to choose only one song from Quantic’s discography. It feels like he has dabbled in more genres than I’ve ever listened to. After two days immersed in his work, this song emerged as the one to share. The track’s infectious rhythm and horns are enough to warrant a listen, but Nidia Gongora’s common sense treatment of wealth and poverty (“La Plata” translates literally to silver and is often used as slang for money) really makes the song. If you have the time, check it out the entire album, Magnetica, from which La Plata comes. It’s solid and experimental from top to bottom.
GOOD READS
Tupac: Twenty Years Later
Twenty years ago this week, Tupac Amaru Shakur was shot and killed in what is still an unresolved murder. Justin Tinsley at The Undefeated does a better job than I could of conveying Tupac’s cultural significance in this elegant remembrance. I have some less elegant questions:
1. How did Jada Pinkett transition from being Tupac’s bestie to marrying Will Smith? Has there ever been a greater crossover in allegiance to hip-hop styles?
2. How much would the average hip-hop fan pay to see a conversation between Tupac and Barack? It’s gotta be at least 1% of yearly income, right?
3. When will Kanye make an album entirely out of Tupac samples? And will that bring Tupac back to life?
4. Anyone else really enjoy imagining the Twitter conversations Tupac and Nelson Mandela might have had?
Tupac Shakur @SonofAfeni
@NellyANC4Lyfe Sup.
Nelson Mandela @NellyANC4Lyfe
@SonofAfeni Chilling. Running a country. You know. #blackisbeautiful. You?
Tupac Shakur @SonofAfeni
@NellyANC4Lyfe In the studio. Can I visit? #needinspiration
Nelson Mandela @NellyANC4Lyfe
@SonofAfeni Sure. I’ve been thinking about the importance of mother-son relationships. Got a track for you. #DearMama
5. As Chris Rock has already asked, how have we still not solved Tupac’s murder? He was shot in public in Vegas. Is there anywhere in the US that has more cameras?
Remember: you can subscribe to the Sweet Chili and get music delivered to you every week at www.sweetchilidelivery.com
*Shouts out to Daniel Badi and Marco Marandiz for putting me on these tracks.
