Behind the Lyrics

Life + Times' "Decoded" series recently took a look at Common's "The Believer", as well as his verse from Blackstarr's "Respiration"—which I've embedded below. It's always interesting to hear firsthand what the thought process was behind an artist's rhymes. Definitely worth the watch.

DECODED: Common "The Believer" & "Respiration"

Taking It Higher

Here's an interesting piece by Life + Times about up-and-coming artist Najee the 1 and producer DB2.

Inspired by the shift in hip-hop to explore production beyond just beats, Uptown rapper Najee the 1 and Queens producer Daniel Bazan Jr., a.k.a DB2 have endeavored to imbue their debut album, Settle For Greatness, with progressive sounds and classical instrumentation. Here, Life + Times documents the process of recontextualizing a genre, as DB2 leads a four-piece orchestra at New York University, producing a fitting soundscape for Najee the 1’s streetwise raps.

You can go here to listen to the duo's first release, "Elevated".

Video: Trae Tha Truth ft. MDMA, Lupe Fiasco, Big Boi, Wale, & Wiz Khalifa -- "I'm On"

This shit's fresher than a newborn. TJ with the assist.

Lotus Partners with Swizz Beats

Following on the heels of Lotus' recent announcement that they are focused on reinvigorating the brand's name, the British automaker has now hired Swizz Beats as a "cool consultant" (so to speak).

From Inside Line:

Taking a page from the Victoria Beckham and Land Rover playbook, Lotus announced on Monday that it has hired Grammy-winning rapper and producer Swizz Beatz to serve as a high-profile consultant.

"The key is to infiltrate the market in a cool way," said Beatz, whose real name is Kasseem Daoud Dean, in a Lotus video showing the rapper's first day at work.

The video follows Beatz as he arrives at Lotus in a helicopter, is driven in a Lotus on a racetrack and later advises teams of Lotus employees, including CEO Dany Bahar.

The best is for "things to happen organically," Beatz expounds.

"They want flash," Beatz says in describing prospective Lotus buyers.

"Like Group Lotus, he means business: He's a risk taker with considerable credentials, including music producer, rapper, designer and painter," said Lotus in a statement announcing the appointment. "(He's) the perfect man to add to the Lotus lineup."

We've recently seen images of the Espirit, due to hit the market late next year. I wouldn't be too surprised if you see a prototype pop up in a few videos next year. It's an interesting marketing tool, and quite possibly an effective one as well.

It's also a complete 180 to how hip-hop has been viewed by companies selling high-end products. From the flap over the comments of Tommy Hilfiger (which were eventually found to be completely falsified), to the Jay-Z vs. Cristal beef (which, ironically, was mentioned in the Jay-and-Swizz collaboration “On to the Next One”), hip-hop artists have long struggled with being perceived as second-class citizens by companies that traditionally catered to society’s upper crust. Because being in a position to afford luxury products made by Rolex, Bentley, Cartier, etc. represents the upper echelon of success, these names have peppered songs, videos, and reality programming like MTV Cribs for decades. This, in turn, has provided these companies with an immeasurable amount of free marketing as generations raised on hip-hop have grown into adulthood.

But, to the stuffy-aired world of old-money that owns and operates these purveyors of fine goods, rappers and hip-hop have long represented a class of people “beneath them”. Whether due to racism or simply to elitism, the people profiting from hip-hop’s love affair with their products often balked at the very association.

The deal between Swizz and Lotus highlights just how much times have changed, and how some of the business world's backwards thinking has been turned around. Now if I could just get BMW to hire Crooked Straight as special social media consultants…