Diatribes by Joah

Year of the Up and Comer Full of Ups and Downs

At the start of this year I wrote about why I had decided to return to Austin. Many of the things I mentioned - starting a business to be one - have become a reality this year as I have completely thrown myself into the vortex of Austin and reaped several benefits as a direct result of my moving back.

I've had the feeling of an up-and-comer all year; maybe not on the level of a Drake in '09 or Obama in '04, but this feeling has persisted throughout the year. And the last two months of this year (and the early months of 2010) have been/will be the culmination of a lot of dedication, imagination, hard work, patience and persistence.

This all makes sense if you know that I pretty much live by Bo Peabody's book Lucky or Smart. In essence, I've striven to smartly make a lot of things happen, good or bad, this year in the effort to create my own luck. So when people hear about Real Role Models or come to Sneak Attack or they read about me in Rare or see the access I got at ACL Festival they think I've been plenty lucky this year, but they completely disregard or overlook the smarts behind it all.

That's OK though. I'm beyond the point of proving things to other people. Everything from this point on is for me and those who care about me and those whom have helped me along the way. And 2010 is going to be a big year for us. The only problem is, big doesn't necessarily mean it's all highs and no lows.

If I've learned anything this year it's that the more I try to control a situation, the more I lose control of the end result. At this point, I'm probably better off letting a few things go, relaxing a little and just letting the cards fall as they may. Which is why, unfortunately, I haven't won on every hand I've played this year. An annual review of the most important relationships and friendships in my life shows a mixed bag of utter joy followed by full-blown strain followed by shades of grey happiness and strife in almost every direction. I'd apologize to each of them, but I've either already done so or don't need to; it's just the kind of year it's been.

But I've also made some great new friendships this year and met some phenomenal people that I feel truly privileged to have spent even one hour with. Case in point, I interviewed Nancy Coplin, one of the chief people behind Austin's being called the "Live Music Capital of the World", for my book the other day and after leaving her house something came over me and I started to cry tears of joy. I felt like I couldn't possibly be living the life that I'm living. Not at 26 years old. That's how good 2009 has been at times. I've always wanted to be in the position I'm now in. I've worked my ass off to be here, wherever here is, but sometimes I still feel like I don't deserve all the blessings God has bestowed upon me.

But then there are the other tears. And the stress. Everyone keeps telling me about all the coals I have in the fire, but I'm sitting here thinking about how many different fires I've had to put out. I have had more stress, more headaches, more heartaches, more confusion, more agony, more tribulations and more clusterfucks than I have ever had in my entire life. All crammed into one rapid-fire speed year.

If there's anything I fear for the new year it's more lows. Sure, the highs may balance it all out...but even in the last week of this year I've had some lows that leave me with the feeling that it'll be a photo finish as to whether or not I can call this the best year in my life or if it was just a year full of ups and downs.

So I'll say goodbye to 2009 and hello to the 1-0.

Best of '09: Music Edition

I moved back (home) to Austin in January of this year and one of the best decisions I made was not buying a TV. Instead, I managed to have the most productive year of my life (edited Real Role Models, started Indisputable, traveled extensively, launched Sneak Attack) and with the exception of Lost, Mad Men and Entourage, spent most of my free time listening to new music or seeing live music.

This was absolutely the best year in terms of concerts for me. I saw Jay-Z in Austin, I saw Keane in D.C., I saw Paul McCartney at Coachella, Kanye West at SXSW, saw Cut Copy at Stubb's, Snoop Dogg own the mic at Lollapalooza, rocked out to DJ-AM just months before his passing, listened in to Passion Pit and Phoenix in Central Park before seeing them both at ACL Festival and saw a slew of buzzworthy acts like The Yeah Yeah Yeahs, St. Vincent, The xx, The Field, Grizzly Bear, Girl Talk, Micachu and the Shapes mixed in with resurgent acts like Pearl Jam and Raphael Saadiq.

A good year in live music can only be topped by an even better year in albums. Two-thousand and nine was a helluva year for recorded music. Pearl Jam, Wilco and Dave Matthews Band, three of the biggest names in American music, all put out superb albums. All that dumb "hip hop is dead" talk was put to bed for good with great albums by Mos Def, Raekwon and a slew of up-and-comers like Kid Cudi, not to mention a revival of R&B with the new Maxwell and Saadiq albums. Powerful rock bands like The Dead Weather and Them Crooked Vultures brought forth both power and prestige while indie acts like Animal Collective, The Mountain Goats and Neon Indian made waves on the festival circuit. And I can't leave out Austin-based artists and bands like The Soldier Thread (Shapes) who put out significant material this year.

All that being said, when the albums by those artists don't make my best albums list, you know it was a great year for music. Here are my top 10 albums in 2009:

10. Grizzly Bear - Saw them a couple of times live this year, including a backstage sighting at ACL Fest.  The album isn't as good from start to finish as the Animal Collective or Dirty Projectors albums, that just missed my list, but Veckatimest is an album that has two of my favorite songs in all of '09 in "Southern Point" and the ever-popular "Two Weeks" that was remixed in about a million different ways, most effectively with Dead Prez's "Hip Hop".

9. St. Vincent - Well you already saw last Friday's jam, which is just one of the reasons Actor deserves to make this list. Along with "Marrow", "Save Me From What I Want" and "Laughing With a Mouth Full of Blood" are can't miss tracks. Saw her at Mohawk with a Philly-based duo called Pattern is Movement that I highly recommend you check out.

8. The xx - Also saw them at Mohawk, just days after their fourth member quit leaving the trio to perform their self-titled album with little improvisation. Still, they played with near maximum precision, sounding pretty much exactly like the CD version of "Crystalised".

7. Rick Ross - He was a no-show at SXSW (Kanye filled in!) but he made up for it with a sick album that wasn't just Deeper Than Rap, it was better than rap. Rick Ross, believe it or not, made a near classic hip hop album. You can't expect Ross to sound or rap like Mos Def or Lil' Wayne, since he lacks both the intellectual wordplay or freestyling ability of those two MCs, but with songs like "Rich Off Cocaine" and "Magnificent Music", he proved Miami is worth a second look as a rap music hub, just short of Atlanta's talent.

6. Clipse - As good as Ross' album is, the true pioneers of coke rap are these brothers who work over Neptunes-produced beats, the duo that I've long considered the best production team of the 00s, to make 'Til the Casket Drops fit nicely alongside their earlier work. Keep in mind, this music isn't for everyone. If it is your cup of tea though, make sure to use sugar instead of the stuff that fills up the lyrics on tracks like "Door Man".

5. Jay-Z - No, I didn't have to go to Dallas or Houston to see him. I stayed home in Austin and saw the biggest hip hop icon there is show why he's not yet ready to become an icon of the past. I don't care how many mixtapes Lil' Wayne does, he's leaps and bounds behind this Mr. Carter if we're talking about hitmaking. Blueprint 3 is full of 'em...from "Run This Town" with Rihanna and Kanye to "Empire State of Mind" with Alicia Keys, Jay-Z proves that he's still the talk of the town (New York isn't exactly a "town") and the hip hop world. Jay-Z, a new member to the 40-and-up club, isn't lying when he raps "Forever Young".

4. Blakroc - Dame Dash may have squandered away millions both during and after his time as Co-CEO of Rocafella Records with Jay-Z, but whatever money he has left is well spent on this Black Keys-meet-hip hop album called Clean. Mos Def, RZA and Raekwon, Q-Tip and others blessed the Keys with some sick verses to make these last few weeks of 2009 extremely enjoyable for fans of rock and rap alike.

3. Drake - He's the most buzzworthy figure in hip hop this year and second only to Pheonix, if you ask me, in terms of owning 2009 music-wise. His So Far Gone mixtape-turned-album was the second coming of Kanye's College Dropout if we're measuring buzz and money generated. And his 2010 (true) debut release will be one of the most sought after albums of the year, and if Lil' Wayne's million-dollar-plus gamble is right, one of the biggest sellers. "Successful" was pretty much my single soundtrack for 2009.

2. Phoenix - Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix is such a good album that they could probably pull a Third-Eye Blind and tour on this album for at least one more year. But I hope they don't wreck their careers Stephen Coodigan style. Usually you have to be Incubus or Nickelback to make an album with so many radio-friendly tracks, but they not only pulled off that feat, but they also managed to establish themselves as a band that could join '09 newbies The Yeah Yeah Yeahs and Kings of Leon on the headliner circuit. I hope these guys build on the greatness that is/was "1901", "Lisztomania" and "Fences" to make an album that fully pushes them to arena status both in the States and Europe. They're not far off.

1. Q-Tip - The Rick Ross album got snubbed for a best rap/hip hop album Grammy, but the voters can redeem themselves by making sure the former A Tribe Called Quest frontman wins for The Renaissance. This is how good this album was: Q-Tip did an album several years ago called Kamal the Abstract that his record label canned because they thought it lacked sales potential (true)...after The Renaissance's critical success, his label smartened up and polished the old album up for a 2009 release as well.

"WeFight/WeLove" featuring Raphael Saadiq was by far my favorite and most-played song of the year so much so that the song's remix featuring Kanye West and Consequence, another Tribe alum, is my second-most-played song of the year.

Best of '09: Movie Edition

There are nine movies that merit inclusion my list*:

9. Public Enemies - Johnny Depp is the only person that I think is capable of playing The Joker as well as Heath Ledger did in Dark Knight so it was a true pleasure to see him mix it up with Christian Bale who is trying to take down John Dillinger (Depp), one of the most notorious bank robbers in the '30s. I liked this movie because it allowed Depp to be the charismatic guy he is, regardless of role, and I loved the chemistry he developed with Oscar winner Marion Cotillard.

8. Terminator Salvation - It wasn't earth-shattering or anything, but it was certainly worth watching in part because of Bale and in part because I'm a fan of the series.

7. Blindside - Sandra Bullock is the new Julia Roberts if box office receipts is what we're looking at. First The Proposal, then this. JetBlue should pay her just for provided such plane-worthy flicks. Thanksgiving is a time to get together with your family and watch a movie that can pull you to both tears and laughs while being uplifted. That's why Blindside, and not Precious, made this list...it was a true story that didn't have to pull too many punches to hit the audience with its message.

6. Iron Man - If you didn't see it, you're missing out. Robert Downey, Jr., resurrects his career by playing a hotshot defense/weapons engineer-turned-super hero. I mean have you seen the trailer for the sequel?!?!?

5. Inglurious Basterds - Brad Pitt is a badass. Fight Club cemented that status and this movie reminded us once again. Didn't see it in the theatres; actually saw it on a 20-something inch non-HD TV, but was still inching out of my seat when those scalps were being pulled.

4. Up - What a fun and touching movie. Especially in 3D. Whether you're an 8-year-old girl or a 26-year-old man or a married couple in your 50s, this movie is just plain fun to watch. From start to finish, this was the best animated film I've seen since The Lion King. If Wall-E was an Oscar shoo-in last year, I have to believe Up will be as well.

3. Star Trek - I've watched the DVD about a dozen times since I got it a few weeks ago. This movie is that good. I'm a big fan of what J.J. Abrams does with Lost and he definitely made a lot of the elements from that show work for this movie. The alternate reality and time traveling elements worked into the story tremendously without being too confusing and the movie ended without me feeling like it lasted 10-15 minutes too long, which is a rarity these days with big budget films.

2. Avatar - Speaking of big budgets...James Cameron went about all-out with this one. And it paid off, not only with box office receipts around the world, but with a moving, can't-take-my-eyes-off-this film that is part love story, part genocide story and part coming of age story. I'm going to see this at the IMAX at least one more time before year's end.

1. The Hangover - I don't get drunk very often, but I did the night I saw The Hangover. It was so good that I left the theatre itching to go to Vegas and instead ended up on the wrong side of eight 7 and 7s (leading to my rule: never have more than seven, 7 and 7s). Regardless, I managed to bike myself home, recover and see it again two more times in the next week.

Each of these movies is DVD worthy so go get your stocking stuffers!

I am told George Clooney's Up in the Air is worthy of any such list, so I left a spot in my top ten for it. I'll go see it this weekend.

Friday Jam: St. Vincent

Certainly one of my favorite videos all year. And she put on a great show at Mohawk this year with Philly-based Pattern is Movement opening. Definitely recommend both.

Death of Chris Henry Hits Too Close to Home

Chris Henry's death is truly tragic and deeply saddening. Not just because he's a young NFL player, but because he has been described as a good teammate and turnaround story for the Cincinnati Bengals. My friend Cedric plays for the Bengals too and I know Chris' death has to be far harder on him and his teammates.

It amazes and startles me how these things happen so suddenly. One minute we're talking about how Tiger's (possible) domestic dispute led to the uncovering of his infidelity and the next we're talking about how a domestic dispute between Chris and his fiance likely resulted in his death.

And he was only 26 years old. Hell, I'm 26 years old. He was a Taurus like me, born just three weeks after me in Louisiana, a fellow Southerner. I sat behind his family at the home opener when the Bengals narrowly lost to the Broncos and remember thinking that he had some extremely beautiful kids. Young kids too. And for his death to happen in Charlotte, North Carolina, a city not even 90 miles from my second hometown of Greenville, South Carolina, just makes it even tougher to grasp.

I'm not trying to make Chris' death about me. I didn't know him, but for some reason what Marcellus Wiley says in this segment about his death being a reminder of your own mortality is so true in this particular moment.

I literally just signed on for a fairly sizeable life insurance policy because, as the founder and braintrust behind Sneak Attack, I must protect my family and friends who have trusted and invested in me. But damnit if the timing of Chris' death doesn't scare me to the core.

Chris' death is tragic because it came so sudden and far too soon, but the deeply saddening part has more to do with how hard it is to live life to its fullest without being fearful of how quickly and unexpectedly life can end.

It just got a little bit tougher, that much I know.

Classic Clip: Bloodsport