Love, beats and rhymes are always the illest combination in the birth of a classic hip hop album. Whether it be about the love of music, love of the streets or love in relationships, it always ends up being something that many can relate to on a large scale. Yet,there's something to be said about the mark that's left on a stained heart in the midst of lost clothes, mixed tapes made with love, and the music that defines it all.I was at Donwill's listening party and there's wine and cheese (sponsored by www.wineandbeats.com) and I couldn't have been more in my element. The ambiance was reminiscent of a Native Tongues reunion except it's 2010 and hip hop has chosen to relive it's roots inside of evolution with the likes of Nicky from the group HEAVY, Spec Boogie and Che Grand in attendance .
The growth is what you could call a guy named DonWill. The evolution of hip hop is a Brooklyn based group called Tanya Morgan. The newest piece to the catalog of classic hip hop is the album "Don Cusack in High Fidelity".
Of course this album is an absolute Ode to the 2000 movie classic High Fidelity with John Cusack, which was a remake from the 1995 British Novel of the same name. A movie that entails a man that goes through the journey of trying to find himself when his last relationship falls apart without his apparent knowledge. While owning and working at a record store with two other friends, he's able to come across many people including women who fall victim to his extensive music collection. He then goes on a hunt to track down his top 5 ex girlfriends to find out what is it about him that made them leave. Donwill brought the movie back to life by remaking the movie. The album is the soundtrack of the remake yet it also holds the true life details of Donwill's last year or so of love, relationships and music.
The intricacies of love & hate, falling in love & breaking up and infatuation & lost admiration are all the things that happen in this album. Donwill allows himself to embody the character of Don Cusack who is a replica of John Cusack by taking pieces of the movie to make a perfectly synced album. Debates throughout the movie surface all throughout the album. It opens with the classic epiphany of how pop music encourages heartache, pain and lost from its many love songs. "What came first? The music or the misery? People worry about kids playing with guns or watching violent videos like some sort of cultural violence will take them over. Nobody worries about kids listening to thousands, literally thousands of songs about heartbreak, pain, misery and lost. Did I listen to pop music because i was miserable? Or was I miserable because i listened to pop music?"
"Now, the making of a good compilation tape is a very subtle art. Many do's and don'ts. First of all you're using someone else's poetry to express how you feel. This is a delicate thing."- High Fidelity. The album automatically is equivalent to the uniqueness of the movie. Taking you on a roller coaster of emotional turmoil that tends to happen throughout any relationship. The mere idea to redo a movie who's entire making is based around nothing but the importance of music was sheer genius.
"When you find that somebody to love, sometimes you gotta find some way to love that somebody." is how the first song "Laura's Song" starts off. An open Donwill dishes out all his epiphanies on how the relationship began and ended in one song. A song dedicated to the woman of his past that embodies the character of Laura, the main girl.Ranging from childhood heartache to college wifeys , the song "Top 5 breakups" has a very old school flow with a beat to match. Throw this song into 1992 and it would fit perfectly next to Bonita Applebum. It is a walk down memory lane with the women that broke his heart in the best and most gruesome ways. Quick and straight to the point are the stories on how the relationships were and how they ended. While each verse explains the story of how the women came and went, the chorus starts off in a way with the denial of Laura not even being that important, yet by the end of the song an adult point of view bumps Laura right in the top 5 list "with a bullet".
The beats follow the chaotic moments of feelings that fly through this album. A perfect marriage with beats to rhymes is Championship Vinyl which happens to be the setting around the entire movie and album. It is also the name of the record store. As three music connoisseurs run a record store, the song depicts how the days play out while working there. Turning the skits from Dick (Todd Louiso), Barry (Jack Black) and Rob (John Cusack) who run a record store to Von Pea, Che Grand and Donwill put a funny twist on everything. Listening to how the customers get cursed out for having a hugely different taste than that of a normal music buff is hilarious.
One of the most dramatic and funny songs on the album has to be Ian's Song. This is the area on the album where Don finds out that his ex has left him for Ian ex neighbor. Making references to how when they were still together they could hear Ian having sex in the apartment above them. "No one's having better sex than Ian."
Relationships, love, lost and heartbreak is what surrounds Donwill's new album. If you haven't seen the movie High Fidelity it's definitely classic piece that's worth seeing. So rather than give every detail of the album, here's a tip for you. March 23rd Don Cusack in High Fidelity. He's got special collaborations with artists, such as Peter Hadar, Nicky Guiland, Opio and many others. To find Donwill online, follow him on twitter at www.twitter.com/donwill. And if you need something to hold u down until the album drops, you can download Laura's Song (mixed by DJ KingMost), the mixtape at www.donwill.bandcamp.com. Enjoy!
JwaStar*
