Qu'est-ce Que J D?

"your newer stuff couldn’t be more calibrated to elicit the crowd response “gee are you..."

Wed, 22 May 2013 10:48:15 -0400

“

your newer stuff couldn’t be more calibrated to elicit the crowd response “gee are you ok?” you imbued it with a lot of shit you were processing when you made it. if people see you performing it and get the idea you might be struggling with something, then the art is serving its purpose and communicating, because you are (or were) struggling with something, and the art is the venue in which the struggle takes place. that’s why we make art out of our rough shit, so the struggle doesn’t all take place inside and wreck up the furniture.

i don’t think it makes for a crappy show to channel crappy emotions.

”

- me (rap legend jesse dangerously) giving advice to a famous friend who heard some people thought something seemed “off” at their last big show.

this is actually what i used to make beats on in the 90s.

Wed, 22 May 2013 10:39:40 -0400

this is actually what i used to make beats on in the 90s.

lovelalaland: HEY JESSE LOOK AT THE ROUGHTING this is what my...

Wed, 22 May 2013 10:20:20 -0400

lovelalaland:

HEY JESSE LOOK AT THE ROUGHTING

this is what my friend Ames is like all the time. wearing an outfit and roughting you up.

to everyone who has been quite rightfully asking where their...

Mon, 20 May 2013 10:50:04 -0400

to everyone who has been quite rightfully asking where their vinyl is… i got you. #canada #USA #Australia #Germany #France #UK #Switzerland

hottiesinanimalears: Here is me walking offstage at Ottawa...

Sat, 18 May 2013 08:49:05 -0400

hottiesinanimalears:

Here is me walking offstage at Ottawa Comic Con.
You can see my animal ears.
Thank you Jesse for inviting me to rap/letting me invite myself.
The rappers behind me (or, that I am behind) are Jesse Dangerously & Tribe One. They will be coming to EVERY US CITY this summer in July & August, so go see them. If you wear animal ears to the show Jesse would be delighted to take a photo with you for this blog.

Jess: http://rljd.tumblr.com/

Tribe: http://wecandonothingherebutperish.tumblr.com/

this night was ill

ofcityromance: that hilarious time when you use your dear...

Sat, 18 May 2013 08:35:50 -0400

ofcityromance:

that hilarious time when you use your dear friend’s name as shorthand for unleashing righteous feminist rage on some POOR UNSUSPECTING MISOGYNIST (and your mom knows exactly what you mean.)

I’ve been known to go kira-lynn for real on dudes. .. also I’ve seen Kira go jesse.

stinkon rich is x rated; complex

Fri, 17 May 2013 23:00:13 -0400

stinkon rich is x rated; complex

shad gets down w/ ian (not pictured: t-lo)

Fri, 17 May 2013 21:49:33 -0400

shad gets down w/ ian (not pictured: t-lo)

spookiest garé

Fri, 17 May 2013 19:54:45 -0400

spookiest garé

this is the Peace Wall on Sussex Drive. is anyone proofreading...

Mon, 13 May 2013 14:58:36 -0400

this is the Peace Wall on Sussex Drive. is anyone proofreading this thing? compare top right and bottom left…. (at Peacekeeping Monument)

the shithead convention is in town again. how many adults can...

Thu, 09 May 2013 14:24:02 -0400

the shithead convention is in town again. how many adults can you late term abort at once?

evandahm: This is the first part of a little project I will...

Thu, 09 May 2013 13:08:18 -0400

evandahm:

This is the first part of a little project I will work on while traveling. I will take reader input on where to go next, and we will see where this goes. Updating from my phone so apologies for any awkwardness.
The beach is worn smooth and hard and the ocean is cold. Confused winds bring alternately sea-salt and the smell of smoke from somewhere inland. Before you jut black rocks like fingers. Two towers stand, skeletal, in the distance.
What do you do?

> search the nearby shore

My great homie Apt, a fellow Halifax->Ontario transplant, who...

Mon, 06 May 2013 15:03:30 -0400

My great homie Apt, a fellow Halifax->Ontario transplant, who was just a kid back when I only just wasn’t, has finished his first new rap project since Canvastripper in 2005. It is called 12 Bits and I think it is AMAZING and I am not wrong.

Check out his sampler plate here - check out the GRIT on all surfaces. Wow!

This is what he says:

“This is a taste of what to expect from the album 12 Bits, to be released on Droppin’ Science in the next month or so. All production by Apt, featuring appearances by DJ Cosmo, Ghettosocks, Bix, Timbuktu, Saidah Conrad and of course: George the Pug.”

here is a 6 litre container made of 1/2 cent’s worth of...

Mon, 06 May 2013 05:48:43 -0400

here is a 6 litre container made of 1/2 cent’s worth of plastic and worth ten bucks taxes in because of its trendy logo. this is a calvin fucking klein garbage box.

think… before making moves (at rockin johnny’s...

Sun, 05 May 2013 14:50:06 -0400

think… before making moves (at rockin johnny’s charred remains)

the game of chess… is like a sword fight. (at rockin...

Sun, 05 May 2013 14:26:48 -0400

the game of chess… is like a sword fight. (at rockin johnny’s charred remains)

What do you most want to be known for that you've already done? (not just albums or songs, everything)

Wed, 01 May 2013 08:00:25 -0400

I mean I WANT to be known for something I don’t think I’ve done yet - creating something really special and meaningful that connects with countless strangers the way the art that adds meaning to my life connected with me. I’m barely scratching the surface of what I hope to offer and I hope I get on the right track before I die.

That’s not what you asked though is it. I guess I just hope people who’ve met me tell their friends I’ve been kind to them, and said something so funny they almost barfed.

Hey Jesse, did you watch Ice T's kind of useless documentary about lyricism where he gets all these amazing interview subjects and then spends the practically the whole time talking about himself? (The bit where Eminem talks about Treach is cool tho)

Tue, 30 Apr 2013 18:21:43 -0400

I sure did! I actually found it really charming, even though I think that Ice T is almost a surrealistically unintuitive host/director/producer for a doc on that particular topic. For all of his doggedly influential presence at a certain impressionable stage of hip-hop’s development, even when I was a kid I thought what passed for “lyricism” coming from him was laughably dull.

It actually makes him nearly perfect for the job, though - it turns him into a Diane Fossey, making observations on a species he has made himself intimate familiar to and with, but which he could never understand innately. Like when Rakim talks about plotting out sixteen bars, Ice T CANNOT HANDLE THIS INFORMATION. He has NEVER HEARD of knowing how rap works. It quickly becomes really clear why he did what he did, and never what they did.

His selection of interviewees is mostly pretty hard to find fault with, though - especially in the earlier, easterly-oriented segments. Talking to Snoop and Dre is kind of agonizing if you think about what other west coast style innovators he COULD have spent time with… neither of those dudes have ever been competent writers on any level. That was kind of weird

I was frustrated that he didn’t ask better questions, but I LIKED the camaraderie he had with almost everyone he spoke to, so eff it. The only sad thing was that you could almost taste how hard he was PRAYING every time he asked a hip-hop legend to “just say any rhyme that comes into your mind…” that they would kick one of his. It’s cringe-inducing when Snoop finally grants his wish… only to trail off, and have Ice T bring it back because HE IS SO EXCITED SOMEONE SAID HIMMMMMM!

Oh it was also weird how much of it was urban scenes of Ice T, age 67, wearing sunglasses and regarding New York City with an icily restrained yet seething hostility. I think that was because he is an ACTOUR.

Re. The Day's Arc: usually laws of attraction don't work the way described in the song. Opposites attract and all that.

Tue, 30 Apr 2013 18:01:46 -0400

Yeah tell me about it.

The Day’s Arc by Don Brownrigg/Jesse Dangerously/Rez Villain on Grooveshark

That second verse is by Rez Villain, a rapper who came from the Membertou Mi’kmaw community in (well, surrounded by?) Cape Breton, NS, and who worked a lot with Backburner in the mid-00s. He recorded me and Don Brownrigg (Newfoundland singer who provides the hook) at his studio one night, but wasn’t satisfied with his own verse yet at the time, so he presented it to me later after he had a chance to work on it solo.

What I initially latched onto was the defiance expressed toward the idea of a god to which one should be grateful, and the ensuing theme of self-reliance.

It took me quite a few listens to notice that a lot of the rest of the verse is basically a Cole’s Notes version of The Secret. I wasn’t savvy enough to pick out buzzwords like “abundance” or “laws of attraction.” Once I did realize, well… there were some things I would considered vital to exercise censorship over, but this verse sounded good and I didn’t want to undermine my friend, so… I let it ride.

My secret confession is that I chose the sample from the 1984 film version of 1984 that precedes his verse to give a subtle indication of what I thought of the implications of the new-agey content. I wouldn’t probably be confessing that if I were still working with Rez, but sadly we haven’t stayed in touch in the years since I moved away from Halifax. Last I saw him was during the 2009 visit that yielded most of the recordings for Backburner’s Heatwave album - someone tracked him down and brought him to the studio for a writing session (I think we were working on verses for Fester’s beat that became “Harm’s Way”), and it was chill to see him but we never saw him again to record… or as far as I know, at all.

Hope he’s still rapping out there somewhere, and that everything’s all good with him and his kids.

Is Kraft dinner really as popular in Canada as Wikipedia makes it out to be?

Tue, 30 Apr 2013 17:43:56 -0400

I don’t know. I really dislike it. I was always more about mini ravioli and mini pizzas and regular size fried chicken.