New year

Ok everyone. We will have a new posts soon. We do not have a designated moderator since JRod left.

Welcome Back!

"When I come back like Jordan..."

Whattup ya'll, I'm back on my blog grizzly. I had to move away from the mic to breathe. Now, for the Chocolate Rain © Tay Zonday.

I just got back from a glorious summer in New Orleans. Did a lot of rappin, a lot of work, and a lot of po-boy eatin. But let's get back to the first part. The reason you're here, the rappin.

My homie 5th Child (myspace.com/5thchildmusic) showed me some ropes in N.O. and we even rocked a show together at World Famous Tipitina's. I'm not exaggerating on the "World Famous," I mean, the last person to perform there was Corinne Bailey Ray. And she's like double plat.

The show was definitely something I can hang my hat on as a great musical achievement.
But this begs the question- am I a rapper?

Let's examine- I recorded an album, did live shows, rubbed elbows wit celebs, and have an ever-important myspace page. So, I'm a rapper right?
...Right?

Now, we're gonna perform an experiment of the sorts © Eminem (yea, Encore, SMH):

Tell the next five people you meet that you're a rapper. Five bucks says their response will be something like "yea, my cousin raps. You heard of him? You two should get together. He got a studio and everything (read: Protools and an Apple)" We're just gonna have to face it, Hip Hop in the new milennium is where Rock & Roll and the Soul singin was in the 60s.
White folk- ask ya parents- mom or dad was lead guitarist for "The (insert gerund) (insert random fruit, vegetable, or household appliance)" that used to play at marijuana and meth-drenched clubs when they were young whippersnappers. They even opened up for The Who once.

And Black-folk, yo daddy was a member of The (insert number of members of the group) (insert plural kinda gay adjective) that used to play a few juke joints back in the day. They even opened up for the Whispers once.

Now look at us- shit, I played Tipitina's.

Face it, as a people, black folk just know how to perform. And (*gasp*) white people can, too. There's a million good rappers, saingers, dancers and drummers on this planet. We ain't all gonna be on Cribs.

But why does it have to be about that? You and I ain't gonna make it to the NBA. But we still go to the gym and ball. So why do I have to be trying to get a deal with my music? Why can't I just record cuz I like it? Don't get me wrong, if Hov calls me up and says I'm signed, I'm whiping my ass with my syllabuseseseses (sp?) and leaving them in my professors' drop boxes. But in the slight chance that doesn't happen, this is fun. And that's what Hip Hop and music in general is supposed to be.

At said Tipitina's show, there were two types of acts.

1) The folks that just really wanted to rap. These people didn't care how they sounded, they just loved Hip-Hop and had a blast. Though some of these guys weren't necessarily the 2nd coming of Kool G. Rap, they were fun to watch just because they were having fun. And that's way more enjoyable than-

2) The rapper looking for a deal, trying to make money off of this. These brothas had studied tapes of their favorite 106 & Park videos and acted a ass on stage. One negro was so hard and rough that he hopped off the stage, over the guardrail, grinded on an unsuspecting girl on her way to get a drink (to drink, drank and get drunk © Trepidacious Pain...Sorry Tigga I gotta jack that from ya). By the time he got back on stage, he was too gassed to finish screaming "I DON'T GIVE A FUUUU *gasp*....ck". His show would have been way cooler if he hadda just been himself. A fan of Hip-Hop who wanted to express himself on a beat for people to hear.

Cuz really, everyone looks fly on TV. But if we don't make it, we just some guys on stage screaming how little of a cotdamn we give while catching an asthma attack on stage. And that's not a good look.

So please, let's just make music. Listen to music. Love music. Cuz isn't that the point.

And leave the stupidity to the pros.

Jackson, signing off.
Myspace.com/jacksontherapper (see, I got a myspace page...I'm legit).

And so it was

Ladies and gentlemen, Battle of the Bands was an enormous success. Congratulations to The Cups, who came away with 1st place, and to The Pulitz Surprises (2nd), Burt Zupanic (3rd), and MiLO (honorable mention). And thanks to all the bands who participated. Year after year, the quality of the bands get better and better, and that's really what this is all about: encouraging students to come together and make music.

Check out pictures from the competition below. Thanks to all who came, and get ready for another great battle next year!

Battle of the Bands 2007

BATTLE TIME

Battle of the Bands is upon us. Friday (tomorrow), 10:30pm, Union Atrium.

Free wings. Good music.

Be there, and bring your friends.

Live WALT Thursday!

Please Join WALT and the Union Board for:

WALT Thursday

The first EVER collaboration between WALT and Live Thursdays!!

This Thursday, March 29 @ 10PM in the 900 Room

Featuring: Andrew Whiteman, Kate Minogue and David Dennis

Podcasts are down

Dear online WALT listeners,

Unfortunately, we're having some technical issues with the computer that handles our podcasting. As of the past week or two, no podcasts are able to be recorded. We are working hard to fix this, and we'll try to start pushing your favorite shows back to the web as soon as we're able to record them again.

Thanks for understanding!

Jrod

Battle of the Bands 2007

In 2004, WALT hosted its first Battle of the Bands. Every spring since, the Davidson College campus has been treated to one of the most successful student-produced events to grace the Union Atrium.

This year we're looking to break every record, and hopefully the Union skylights, as WALT puts on its fourth annual BATTLE OF THE BANDS on APRIL 13, 2007.

Pull those those guitars out of their dusty cases, start toying with tunes on the Union piano, and get some friends together to participate in this year's event.

Applications are available here, and outside of the WALT studio on the fourth floor of the Union.