London calling
Research is all, and so I’m sure The Day will be delighted they paid me last week to spend an entire afternoon learning about the science and art of crafting beats for hip hoppers.
This dive down the spider hole started when I heard a bit of musical tooth-extraction called “Hookah” by a rapper called Tyga with help from Young Thug. Even given that I’m an old white goof who’s sneezed my way through 62 winters, the lyrics and delivery of “Hookah” are stunningly awful, as though RP McMurphy suddenly regained speech after his “Cuckoo’s Nest” lobotomy and tried to recite R-rated limericks.
What was interesting, though, was the haunting backing track, with spookhouse keyboard arpeggios, lonely-wind ambience and martial skeleton beats. It was crafted by producer London on Da Track who, it turns out, has worked with a number of big name rappers — Lil Wayne, Jeezy, 50 Cent and Gucci Mane, among
others — on plenty of big name songs.
London on Da Track appears Friday at Shrine in Foxwoods. Not sure precisely what he’ll do there — invent beats or play backing tracks, maybe reenact the video to “Hookah,” with
its exotic jungle creatures and scantily clad models inhaling from the titular smoking device as though lung cancer was a fun and quickly obtainable goal. Whatever happens, though, I’m betting it sounds good and it’s danceable.