Diatribes by Joah

Notes from SXSW

SXSW 2017 notes: Don't schedule more than 2 meetings/commitments in a day to leave room for serendipity. Don't pitch investors during SXSW. If you're going to get an investment, they won't be so lazy as to require you meet during SXSW. Just have good conversations with warm intros...if they lead to raising money, that's great. Do get a wristband or badge. I've done SXSW every way and the best way is with, at least, some access to see shows or talks. Do meet up with friends from out of town. You won't see them all, but do your best to see as many as you can. These connections, however loose, can help down the road with relationships for work/life/love. Don't look at the SXSW Music schedule for known-acts/big names only. You can go to Coachella if you need to see a current star. Do break up with your significant other before SXSW if you think it's coming. You don't want to be that couple on the street outside a venue having a blow up argument. I saw this no fewer than a dozen times this past week. Don't party every day / night. Even if it's just 2-3 hours a day, leave room for time to chill at home, go see a movie, go for a walk, eat a meal at home, get some work done. It'll help with the SXSW aftermath that you don't feel a week behind on life. Susannah and I saw Logan one night and ate dinner at home. Another night, Larry, Gary and I went to see Get Out at Alamo Slaughter. Can't get further from SXSW.

Quick thoughts on The Life of Pablo

Here's a quick guide to The Life of Pablo if you've loved all of Kanye's previous albums. [Yes, TIDAL is worth it so far.]

Ultralight Beam - Maybe the best intro to a Kanye album ever. Sounds like something that could have been on Graduation. Chance the Rapper's voice is surreal.

Wolves – The most 808s and Heartbreaks sounding cut on the album.

Pt. 2 – Bang this in the car.

Feedback – Yeezus has arrived.

Highlights – Late Registration or Graduation...the b-side.

I Love Kanye – His sense of humor is still here. Plus, he hears his critics and delivers a College Dropout-worthy skit track.

Real Friends – You could probably stick this on Late Registration, and it would work. That Kanye-Jon Brion production vibe.

30 Hours, Waves, Famous - The songs for folks who love Kanye's Good Fridays.

No More Parties – Kendrick Lamar + Kanye West...this is like a Watch the Thrones song.

Facts – Yeezus, again.

Overall, I think T.L.O.P. is better than 808s and Yeezus but just below Graduation. The bar with Kanye's music is so high...he's the best album artist in hip-hop history if you just look at the consistent greatness plus the multiple classics he's been responsible for from College Dropout to My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy.

#BlackLivesMatter at Austin City Limits

The question shouldn't be, "do Black Lives Matter or do All Lives Matter". We already know the answer. Whether you're a Black boy walking to get Skittles, a Black man walking or standing in your neighborhood or a Black girl sitting in the classroom, there is example after example - often not based on hearsay or rumor, but video evidence - that Black Lives, in fact, do not matter. So we say Black Lives Matter like we say the N-word to one another as a term of endearment. We say Black Lives Matter like we may laugh to keep from crying because there's so much going on, people killin', people dyin'. We say Black Lives Matter because All Lives Matter is about as true to us now as "All Men Are Created Equal" or "Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness" was for Black folks (or women) in 1776. We speak the truth we want to see in the world. We speak the change we want to be in the world. We speak to help put the future into existence. Kendrick Lamar's taping for Austin City Limits last night was the most important live music show I've ever been to, and the best. I've seen maybe 50 of these tapings over the years and another 600 to 800 shows here in Austin and around the country. I've seen Kanye West a dozen times. I've seen Local Natives 18 times. Yes, 18. I've seen Radiohead, Jay-Z, Sade, Beyonce, Paul McCartney, Eminem, Public Enemy, Jill Scott, Wilco several times, The Black Keys, etc. But no show I've ever been to was as powerful as Kendrick's last night. The main reason: he told us, and we told us, that we goin' be Alright. Yes, we goin' be Alright. Do you hear me, do you feel me? We goin' be Alright. Maybe there will always be racism in America. That filthy residue that is left behind after hundreds of years of slavery, decades of Jim Crow and segregation, and still more years of discrimination and disrespect. But the world, our world, is beginning to change ever so slightly. Complexion don't mean a thing, at least it won't at some point in the future I hope to someday see. Last night, I felt the future. I felt what the world may feel like when Black Lives Matter. I'd love to feel that more often. I'll keep saying it and others will as well until that future becomes our present. For those of you whom weren't there last night, do you want to know what it felt like to be in that room? Rapping along with Kendrick Lamar and shouting "we goin' be Alright" at the top of our lungs and then low like a slave hymnal and then at the top of our lungs...? It almost felt like All Lives Matter. Almost.

10 Thoughts/Observations from ACL Festival

10 Thoughts/Observations from ACL Festival:

1. I'm 32 and have been going to festivals for a decade now. Yes, that makes me feel old. What really makes me feel old is showing up at 5/6pm each day and still having sore feet the next day. Can't believe I used to be the guy getting there at noon, and I camped at Coachella twice! Never again.

2. Festivals are all about the experience, and the experience I like the most isn't actually backstage or side stage anymore. I prefer to be with the people. Listen to the kids, bro.

3. ACL Festival continues to be one of the best run, least-chaotic festivals in the business. What they lack in lineup effects (though not much this year) they more than make up for in the caliber of food they offer, the urban scenery (though not quite Lollapalooza level) and the all-ages atmosphere.

4. I write "all ages" but then I think about the nature of the lyrics by artists like Drake, A$AP Rocky and The Weeknd and I realize that family friendly in 2015 is a helluva lot different than family friendly in 1995 when I was a more impressionable young person.

5. My music highlight was Disclosure bringing out soulful singer Brendan Reilly to perform "Moving Mountains". A lot of people don't seem to be as into Disclosure's new album Caracal as they were into Settle, but I think that's a product of two things I'll touch on momentarily.

6. It's still all about the hits. People were walking away during both Disclosure and The Weeknd's performances, until massive hits "Latch" and "Can't Feel My Face" came on, then droves of teens and college kids started running up as if the show was about to begin.

7. You may not buy albums, but you should. Sure, you've been snake-bitten in the past when an album didn't live up to your expectations or you feel you shouldn't feel bad for downloading albums from a friend's personal catalog, but when a drone replaces your job or when art museums go the way of drive-in movie theatres, you'll have yourself to blame. Here's my recommendation: Make a list of your favorite 5 to 10 artists today and pledge to buy their next album and find one (just one) new artist each year to add to this list. My list of artists I buy everything they record includes: Local Natives, Disclosure, Kanye, Tame Impala, Flying Lotus, Kendrick Lamar, The Internet, Jill Scott, Radiohead and Q-Tip. (plus all the Austin artists I support, e.g. Emily Wolfe, Letting Up, Keeper, etc.)

8. As a sign of where music is today, the artist who had the most sing-alongs of the festival almost certainly had to be Drake. Drake is standing on the shoulders of Kanye West who stood on the shoulders of Jay-Z who stood on the shoulders of Notorious B.I.G. who stood on the shoulders of Brooklyn so that's pretty damn high up if you think about it.

9. There are so many amazing food options at ACL Fest, but Mighty Cone is still my personal favorite.

10. October has officially become my second favorite month in Austin, after April (my birthday month). The weather is warm but not too hot. The nights are cool. The music around town, not just the festival, is stellar. And OU still sucks.

Random thoughts on privilege

In the tech industry you hear all these tech leaders talking about failure like its a badge of honor, but mess around a let a Black entrepreneur fail and it's all of a sudden a badge of shame. Case in point: Jay-Z with TIDAL. Can't ya'll just let that man breathe.

Similarly, we always demand our pop icons to be more outspoken about broader issues, but can you imagine if Kanye West had written that same exact letter Taylor Swift sent to Apple, word-for-word? I have a feeling many of ya'll would be online trying to kill the messenger instead of applauding him.

Friday Jam: DJ Ele's "Bounce"

And this video is hilarious.