A Really Cheap Way To Talk About Rap Music Again

 

I've been up most of the night trying to make my next YouTube video from The Big Lowensky tracks, and it's more involved than the previous two, but the software is proving to be kinda hinky and crashes. Now, after all that work, I have to rethink the whole approach. I've since discovered this is a common problem, with no one or easy fix. I hurt my back a bit, again, to learn that. "Making an effort," you know? 

 BTW - 50 Cent's first underground hit was released on this day in 1999.

The beginning of a fortune,...

 

Once Upon A Time, In A Crackhouse Far, Far, Away,...II

So, at the bottom of this post is KKKrack RocKKK, your second song from my 1999 mix tape, The Big Lowensky: Crackhouse Hits From The Clinton Era, and, y'all, is it a hoot!

I got excited all over, listening to it again, because - even after all these years (The Big Lowensky tracks were originally recorded before '95, remember) - KKKrack RocKKK's still a happy reminder of how well I can make some cold machines "hum".

And it was even a lot of fun to make!

Everything, back then, was fun. 

With my help, the Broun Fellinis' shows stayed packed, with lines around the block, and there was so much money coming in we made Billboard Magazine (above). And even though we ended up losing our Bay Area Music Award nominations in a rigged contest (some guy from the Jefferson Starship was the obvious favorite) San Francisco was becoming more-than-a-little aware that wherever the Fellinis' intimidating symbol, "Clyde, The Dancing Hippo," appeared, that's where the action was.

I, too, became a force to be reckoned with (being the highlight of the Fellinis' shows) as nightly crowds chanted/shouted/demanded "Crack Emcee! Crack Emcee!" so much, not only did offers came in for modeling jobs and "special guest" spots on other artist's albums, but the Fellinis' saxophone player, David Boyce, started feeling like he wasn't exactly the star of his own scene anymore.

And, boy, did he let me know it. 

But that was cool because - by that time - he wasn't.

David eventually took over vocals, after I went solo, and our friendship never recovered.

But it was time for me to go anyway. The Fellinis' got signed to a vanity label out of Los Angeles and didn't include me in the deal, but, unfortunately for them, while their first record had some beautiful moments, there weren't enough for it to be considered "all that". And, no matter where Aphrokubist Improvisations, Vol. 9 was reviewed, the one song I was allowed on the album - Pow! - was the stand-out. Even after the band stupidly edited it for swearing. 

So what more did I need? I had it all - a wife who (I thought) loved me, offers coming in from everywhere, the papers were noticing - and I had a home art/recording studio to keep 'em doing so. 

I was ready to conquer the world.

So that's exactly what I set out to do,...

     

"With his base strung over his back,..."

Once Upon A Time, In A Crackhouse Far, Far, Away,...

Above is the opening track from The Big Lowensky: Crackhouse Hits From The Clinton Era (1999) a critically acclaimed mixtape retrospective of my work during the Big Dawg's term.

I started making mixtapes in the early '90s (when no one else was doing them) as a outlet for some musical and cultural ideas I'd been pursuing with my friend, Henry Flood (fellow percussionist from our first popular band, The Beatnigs). Our recording project, Blackmail, got sidetracked but I kept going wherever that music, and current events, led.

It was a pretty intense time.

I mainly made the tapes for my friends, and fellow artists, but The Big Lowensky caught someone's attention during my stint as vocalist for the Broun Fellinis (1994) and - pow - I had a solo career.

I haven't thought about The Big Lowensky in years, and - because the songs are racial - probably never would've played them again. But, since everybody's lost their mind over Trayvon, and Bill & Hill and Monica are all back in the news, AND because I'm teaching myself to make YouTube videos during this down time (and need songs to try out) The Big Lowensky is once again free to terrorize a whole new political generation. (I've also got an album called Newt Hates Me around here somewhere,...)

What I'm saying, TMR readers, is you're about to (finally) enter the world of Crackhouse Music!

Prepare to get weird.

Since I'm making these videos now, I've decided to start with Big Lowensky songs, and then move forward or back to other releases, as a kind of build-up to my new material. (I'll eventually put up whole albums as I get better with the software. Let others hear them if you'd like.) If there's lyrics, I'd suggest expanding the YouTube videos (by clicking the square, bottom right) and, I think, all my earlier work is appreciated better in headphones (because that's how I made it). YMMV. That's it:

Enjoy,...