Born over the span of a few months, Still Means Something was a collaborative effort between producer/DJ FANGFACE and myself. Many beats were crafted and suitable words were written. Some songs strange, but all reflecting facets of life. What were intended to be beat sketches turned into final drafts. This is the one and only project where FANGFACE will be handling production duties. He’s moved on.
Velcro Sneakers-originally entitled 10:34, this is the only song not produced by FANGFACE. Actuel (who went with FANG and I to Scribble ‘04) made a beat CD to hand out. After I was done with all vocals for the album, I wanted to keep writing and found actuel’s beats. This was my favorite and I messed around with more than my usual dose of word-wandering. It wasn’t even a consideration that this would go on the album until Kashal-Tee heard it and flipped out. The outro is a nod to Les (Velcro Rod Lavers) Worth.
The Humdinger-FANGFACE had the sample of the hook as the main song component, but I liked the bass line piece making up the verses. The Humdinger’s an example of my perspective seeping into the song. It was by no means deliberate, but I’m glad it worked out. Though the changeup to a happier hook sample was good, I felt it needed something else and couldn’t resist adding vocal multitracking. I think the hook vocals provide a good counterbalance to the sample. Credit where credit is due: AJ Cameron was first to call Wynona Judd a “shovel-jawed pork chop” (this being in one of his 411mania.com columns). The outro (where the song title is repeated and fades out with the beat) was inspired by an old Juice song.
99 Goggles-FANG had a dope guitar lick and drum set up and thought it’d be kosher to have a song where the verses were only split up by one bar instead of the traditional 4-8 bars. Once I heard the beat, I knew I had a story song that would fit the style. This song was written as 4 verses of 16 bars, but having just the first 3 verses worked well. Throw in a GI Joe moral to the “I’ve got to quit drinking” story and a song about truck stop bars is born. I enjoyed how Muggs would randomly throw extra instrumentals at the beginning or end of songs and thought the outro beat gave a good sense of waking up hungover. Each time I hear it, I can’t help but picture being about 10 feet under water and seeing the sun and the surface about 10 feet away..
Emily Plus 2-this was one of the first songs completed that gave me an impression of where the album was headed. The beat was notably more upbeat than my previous material and I did what I could to match its mood. My first take ended up being the final take, even with the mistakes I felt I couldn’t aptly recapture the mood of the song. The beat was called Emily and the Plus 2 is in reference to the generation of the song (various hooks and outros were tried). The outro was something I messed up on and figured to keep, a look behind the curtain which wouldn’t necessitate a skit.
Dumptrucks & Hummers-I don’t know how, but this hook is a trickle-down effect from the Fugees. I like this hook, though I couldn’t tell you what it means. From a lyrical standpoint, it’s a pretty random song. It’s no wonder I lean towards storytelling-it’s easy to draw in disparate elements when there’s a journey afoot. The acapella outro came about because I can't resist singing. I'd tell you the band whose records my Mom used to play that inspired the outro, but my memory serves mush.
A Handful of Words-the first verse and first half of the hook for this song were originally recorded for a song with Cashmere (Surly Polar Bear Inc.). I knew what words would aptly start this song. I got in touch with Cashmere and asked if he was cool with me using the verse for something I was working on. The upright bass work reminded me of Prong’s “Beg to Differ.” Random tidbit-‘Tuberculosis host’ is in reference to my Dad and ‘appears in rivulets’ is my crying. “With all due respect, you get nothing” was born from a frustrating job I took on and was trying to figure out how to tell the person I quit.
Vicoden Popsicles-This song is for the b-boys and b-girls. I ran it by Glide, who then played it for Revver (Clever) and they both gave it the thumbs up. you can thank RhymeWise37 that this song didn’t have a much wacker title. I thought it provided an apt transition between the intensity of A Handful of Words and the story of Stacks of Loot and allowed me to tip my hat to the coordinated cats.
Stacks of Loot-A case in point of one line starting an absolutely random story with plenty bizarre elements. I started with “Playing a game of jai alai with lil Kim’s fake nails” and turned it into an epic tale of betrayal. This is the untold and unauthorized story told from the perspective of one of the jai alai players seen in the intro to Miami Vice. Characters include a one-eyed cop, Don Johnson, Melanie Griffith’s hippie sister, Melanie Griffith’s niece, Michael Mann, and a disgruntled beach bum. Brian Singer likes this song but can’t figure out why.
Lovesick-finally, a Sankofa love song. On the Still Means Something sampler, I left out the last section of the first verse, giving the impression I was getting soft in the head. This is a love song which tells three tales about relationships gone wrong. The first verse was originally intended for a NIMH concept song. The remaining verses were crafted to the beat. As to the details of those relationships…
People Mover-named after those conveyor belts which confound my feet. This track was constructed in FANGFACE’s since gone MPC3000 at 112 BPM and then upped to 118. I had a whole set of lyrics for it and ended up using a set I’d originally intended for another FANGFACE beat. Though the track was fast, I didn’t feel the need to rap angrily on it. I opted for a more subdued tone which was reflected in the hook. Kashal-Tee heard the song and declared it my first club hit.
Burn Unit-I wrote about 10 verses to this beat and chopped them down to three. One of my discarded verses contained what would become the hook. When the hook was being recorded, I stretched my voice more than usual. I was concerned the hook work would be over the top, but it turned out well. Burn Unit song was by far the most labor-intensive song, from both a writing and recording standpoint. There were many generations of this track. I wanted to make sure this was more than a case of “insert angry voice/rap fast here”. FANGFACE made this beat at Kashal-Tee’s request, but Kash was looking for something different and the track became fodder for Still Means Something.
The Perpetual Motion Machine-This is a track about my need to keep writing. I kept the hook blank to leave the impression of nothing but the beat sitting there, calling me. Second Carnie Wilson reference is found here-I guess that gastric bypass failure stuck in my head. The outro was written back in the Silversmiths LA sessions where I was fooling around. It was right about the same time I wrote and recorded Chubby Rain.
A Night At the Casba-One of FANGFACE’s earliest beats over which I recall a night I spent down at the Casba (a Tuesday night club now overseen by DJ K-Tel in Indianapolis) a summer ago. It struck me as a night I had to put in song. Man, was FANGFACE furious when Rusty bogarted the turntables. “Del’s little bro…from the skate shop” turned out to be Zeal from Nearest Nova.
Barnburner-another FANGFACE idea, different beats for each rapper. This was a chance for me to close the album with talented people I consider friends. JON?DOE and Kashal-Tee being the Society of NIMH holdovers and AthenA just being plain sick. I start it off and ended up rerecording my verse so it could have more heart. JON?DOE gives a nod to Puffy’s ad libbing before going for some “classical JON?DOE” sound effects (you guys should have heard the acapella backing tracks). The harpsichord seemed a perfect sample for J?D to weave words. AthenA’s beat was done and mailed off before Edan’s album featuring the same sample dropped. Unfortunately, by then, FANGFACE had quit so it was that beat or nothing and-when there’s a chance for an AthenA guest verse-it’s that beat. I always pictured Kashal-Tee closing out my album with a certifiable kick in the ass.
