Lupe's Back BOY-EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

(Photo taken from last.fm)

Lupe Fiasco is the best rapper alive. I said it. Right now, only Kid Cudi is givin Lupe a run for his money. Move aside Wayne, you've sided too much with Drake (the 13 year old girl's rapper). Lupe's first two albums, Food and Liquor and The Cool, are two of the best rap albums made in the past ten years and based on this track, the third, Lasers, doesn't look to disappoint. I heard from someone that he is only doing three albums and then he's retiring his solo career. If this is true, and this third album is anywhere near as good as his first two, I guarantee that he will be remembered as one of the greats. He's the only popular rapper who actually raps about 'stuff'. Not just 'gettin low' on some 'ice cream paint job' with some guy named Dougie. His songs have social and cultural relevance that hip/hop seems to have abandoned since Tupac and Biggy were alive. Lupe toes the line between pop and rap. His music definitely has that radio appeal quality to it, but when listening to it, I feel like these songs have some actual meaning that pop music either ignores or simplifies. His rhymes cover rough and raw material, and I'm not talking about how rappers talk about how they kill people or the stupid feuds they start (remember when feuds used to be cool? Like Nas and Jay-Z or Tupac and Biggy. The last 'beef' I can remember is between Eminem and Mariah Carey, proof enough that Eminem completely sucks now). Lupe raps about IMPORTANT stuff. About our society's definition of what's 'cool' or about the war. And yea, his music is fairly biased/liberal, but he is definitely intelligent, you can tell just by reading his lyrics.

n**** they ain't living properly
break 'em off a little democracy
turn their whole culture to a mockery
give 'em Coca-Cola for their property
give 'em gum, give 'em guns, get 'em young, give 'em fun
if they ain't giving it up, then they ain't getting none

and don't give 'em all naw, man, just give 'em some

Here's some of his older songs, all of them amazing.

Dumb It Down

Daydreamin' (His best song)

Little Weapon

Gold Watch

American Terrorist (Feat. Matthew Santos)

*****

And now, on to his new ish. It literally came out yesterday. It uses the melody from one of my favorite songs, Float On by Modest Mouse. Get on it quick before the radio grabs hold and plays it to death. It's a definite possibility.

The Show Goes On *NEW*

Massive Attack - Angel

Six Scary Songs/Music Videos

Halloween is fast approaching. You can already see the decorations in stores and bars, the skeletons and spiderwebs that adorn the windows brings that first notion that fall is well on it's way and summer is long gone. Though the weather is downhill from here (other than snow, oh how I love snow), the coming of cold means the beginning of holiday season. I mean, honestly, the cold sucks which is why man has filled the fall and winter with football and holidays. That's what we really love. And Halloween is the first of those.

Personally, I am a huge fan of horror. Horror films (don't worry we'll get to that later this week) and horror songs. What exactly is a horror song? Let's just say, it's the type of song that, if you were woken up by it in the middle of the night, you would start to get worried. Some of these have scary music videos to accompany them, but some were made before music videos existed. Without further a due, here's six scary ass songs.

6. Bauhaus - Bela Lugosi's Dead

I got a record player two Christmases ago and one of the records my oldest brother gave me was by Bauhaus. The first time I put it on, I was with one of my best friends, and we were immediately thinking "What the hell is this?" It's not your average music. It doesn't even contain any of the average sounds you hear in music. Bauhaus is named after the German art school, and rightly so. To put it simply, they are both very strange and weird. Bauhaus the band has got a dark post-punk Cure style sound that's gloomy and grungy. Just see how creepy it all is right here.

5. Electric Light Orchestra - Fire On High (No Video)

ELO, one of those classic rock bands that deserves more attention. Their sound is so grand and their music so distinguishable I have yet to hear a band I could compare them to. They were a 70s British Rock band that brilliantly incorporated the sounds of Rock, Pop, and Classical. I'm sure you've heard their song Mr. Blue Sky, definitely their most popular. This song, Fire On High, starts out like a nightmare. It is how I'd imagine the music that they play like in hell sounds, only to be pulled out of the darkness by soaring violins and rhythmic guitars. A journey through hell, give it a listen.

4. Massive Attack - Angel

I actually filmed a short horror film this past summer in USC and used this song for the background music. After adding it, the film was 10 times scarier. Massive Attack was able to get that feeling of growing worry and the director did a great job of putting a visual handle on that. Just read the comments on youtube, they get it perfectly. If we run away from our fears, they'll just grow and grow to the point where they overwhelm us. I couldn't embed the video directly so I'll put it in a different post.

3. Michael Jackson - Thriller

Of course. Thriller. And yes, I know Michael Jackson is the King of 'Pop', but come on, he's the scariest, or was the scariest, looking person IN THE WORLD. Of all the people in the entire world, if I woke up and found someone standing at the foot of my bed, Michael Jackson would by far be the most terrifying. I wouldn't even think about it, I would just jump straight out of my window (and I live on the 16th floor).

(Picture taken from Google Images)

Even though this is the definition of a pop song from a pop artist, it's still the greatest music video every made, and you can't make a scary music video list without putting it somewhere on it. You just can't.

2. Soundgarden - Black Hole Sun

Weird. Creepy. Exactly what this song needed. When I was little I was a huge Soundgarden fan, I still remember sitting in my old 80s style kitchen (before our house was renovated) and hearing on MTV that they broke up. Though I'm not really sure what's going on in this music video, I know that the place depicted might be the worst neighborhood to live in. The scariest part is their weird creepy smiles. Something about a smile that's just too big is terrifying.

1. Rammstein - Du Hast

This was the one music video that was able to ruin my childhood. Everytime it was on TV, I couldn't help but watch it while hiding under my bed (what can I say, I liked being scared), but it would scare the poop out of me. For those of us who can remember beach week, I'm sure they can't hear Du Hast without wanting to run the other direction. Though it doesn't hold quite the same scare factor that it did when I was eight, I will forever remember it as the scariest music video of all time.

Dirty. Filthy. Melt Your Face Off Tuesdays

So for all of you who haven't gotten into this new music called Dubstep, this post is for you. It's that type of music that if your parents heard, they would think you were listening to pure noise. At times it even sounds like noise... but its melodic noise. That melodic WOMP WOMP WOMP that you feel in your body.

Too often now I'll be driving with a friend looking for a song to play and ask him/her "Do you like dubstep?" and they'll say "What's dubstep?" It's almost 2011 damnit, people need to hear this.

This is the future. This is what you will be hearing throughout the bars and clubs in under five years. First the rap/hip-hop genre will adopt it and then BOOM it's gonna be everywhere. That's my prediction. In fact, it's even started to happen a little.

So here, get a heads up, and LISTEN to these amazing songs. I'll ease you into it with the more radio friendly songs towards the top of the list.

Matisyahu feat. Akon - One Day Jakwob Remix

This is one of those Dubstep songs that could be easily played on the radio and people would love it. But for some reason, you'll never hear it. Instead, they'll choose to cycle between the same terrible five songs all day. Well anyways, this song is worth a listen to, in fact, I haven't met anybody who hasn't liked it yet.

White Lies - Death (Chase & Status Remix)

A friend who lives in London introduced me to White Lies. He went to high school with them and was telling me that they were about to blow up, and the summer of 09 they did. In England, their album overtook U2's No Line On the Horizon, and deservedly so. I was amazed by the fact that this band was my age, as the singer sounds like a 35 year old man. But they definitely know how to jam. Though this song doesn't really do White Lies justice, since its pretty much just the vocals being used, it's still a good introduction to both the band and Dubstep. So enjoy, this one is dirty, great workout song.

La Roux - Bulletproof (Chrispy Dubstep Remix)

One of the few good pop songs of 2009 (I'll admit, I liked it) and Chrispy makes it even better. This is a great song to ease someone, if thats even possible, into dubstep. Oh, also, don't bother listening to any of these on laptop speakers, you need to be able to get that low bass sound which you need with semi good speakers or else you'll be ruining the experience.

Lil Wayne - Lollipop (Nasty Ways Remix)

First I need to say Lollipop is probably my least favorite Wayne song and Kanye might be my least favorite rapper (other than his first album, honestly, could someone suck more as a person). But this beat is the definition of dirty and here the verse/flow accompanies the music.

The Marvelettes - Please Mr. Postman (Cragga Dubstep Remix)

One of my favorite oldies remixes. When I was young, my parents would only play oldies in the car, so I love stumbling across these types of songs. They have an ability to bring you back while also giving you that constant barrage of the senses that our generation loves. I might even dedicate an entire day to oldies remixes, we'll see.

M.I.A. - Steppin' Up (Young Live Dubstep Remix)

I like MIA's music, but for some reason, all of the songs I like are remixes. So I guess I don't really know if I like her music. I also hear that she puts on a terrible concert. But even so, lots of her songs are turned into amazing songs. And this is one of them. One of those, drivin through the ghetto windows tinted out drivin slow in a low rider songs. Oh, I couldn't find it on youtube, so just click on this link and it'll take you to a website where you can hear it.

http://www.soundcloud.com/younglive/m-i-a-steppin-up-young-live-hard-l-a-m-i-a-dubstep-remix

Sky Ferreira - Animal (Young Live Dubstep Remix)

Sky Ferreira, the up and coming queen of electropop. If you haven't heard her single 'One' yet, go get dat 'ish now. This is a remix of her song Animal, done amazingly well by Young Live. My favorite remix of her songs so far. Young Live, please, come out with more music.

Modestep - Sunlight

I had never heard of Modestep before a friend gave me this song a few weeks ago, but so far they are pretty nasty. Just give it a listen. It's the perfect song to blast at 6 am when you're trying to party and the sun's being a party pooper.

Bassnectar - Massive Attack Remix

Bassnectar is pretty popular right now, or he's gaining popularity. He is definitely one of the best out there, though I hear he talks to much during his concerts (saying stuff like "YEAH! YOU GUYS ARE AWESOME!) when everybody's tryin to get their thang on. Really, nobody likes hearing people talk during songs, which is half of the reason why rap concerts are generally terrible, with the exception of Jay-Z who I need to see very badly. But anyways, this song is redic. Just wait till Wayne starts rapping and you'll be addicted.

Mr. Bass Line JunkE - Dreamer (Dave Dialect Dubstep Remix)

One of my favorite dubstep songs. "You're nothin but a dreamer", and that's alright with me. Just give it a listen.

DJ Fresh - Gold Dust (Flux Pavillion Remix)

This song is so filthy that you'll need to take a shower after you hear it. That is all that needs to be said.

And that's it. I'm thinking of making every tuesday Dirty.Filthy. Melt Your Face Off Tuesday. If you guys like what you hear, let me know, and it will be done.

My First Post

So this is going to be the first thing I ever post on a blog. To all you in my class, I know, this is a really late start. But hopefully I'll make up for it. Here's a song for starters. I've been addicted to this for the past week. It's a remix of Nico's 'These Days' by Shinichi Ochawa. Someone spliced in footage from The Royal Tenenbaums (which is definitely worth a view). It does and doesn't work with the song but it's something to look at.

(AND THATS HOW IT WORKS! You come here and click a button and for the rest of you're life you have a great song/film)

Anyways, now that you've got a song to listen to and you'll probably have to stick on this page as is plays out, here's some information about Eff-POP.

Eff-POP is a music and film blog that brings to you the songs and films that you never hear about unless you look for them. We'll I've done plenty of searching and whoever finds this blog won't be disappointed. Promise. (Unless you're favorite song is Beyonce's Single Ladies or Black Eyed Peas 'I Gotta Feelin', which if it is the latter, than you'll love this remix of it)

Now, back to Beyonce. For me, the whole mindset that popular music is at an all time low began because of her. Or because of Rolling Stone really. Of all the amazing songs from 2008, a great year for music, Rolling Stone labeled Single Ladies the greatest of them all. OH. MY. GOD. This is the type of song that makes me cringe when it's played at the bars. That makes me think, what the hell am I doing in a place like this? I'm not saying that Beyonce's a bad singer, she has an amazing voice, but this is the type of song that makes me appreciate silence. When I'm on a 10 hour plane ride and my IPOD dies in the first 10 minutes, I can find some comfort in the fact that at least this song isn't being blasted on the speakers.

Ironically, this is something I just noticed, Rolling Stone labeled the Santogold song remixed above, LES Artists, as the second best single of 2008. So yes, we know that there is good music out there and that people do have good taste.

So it isn't the music that's bad. It's the music were being fed thats bad.

So I'm here to try and help you get out of the 99.5 radio muck and away from the Twilight screenings. (Far away)

So turn on, tune in, and let's do this.