FanPost

MIN-NYK Musical Preview: Rappalachia

Boy am I tired. Busy day today, busy day tomorrow. But the show must go on... all I ask is your tolerance for whatever stream of thought I type out.

The Wolves are playing a team from NYC again. We simply scratched the sonic surface before, so there's still a lot of gold in them thar boroughs. Feel free to post links to your best tunes from NYC, NY state and - why not? - Connecticut, a land barren of any NBA teams.

There is a group in Brooklyn, centered around a guy named Rench, doing some cool stuff. It's hard to come up with fresh sounding music these days - lots of great neo-soul or retro-punk, etc., but how often does something truly sound unique? Is there anything new under the sun?

I'm here to tell you that blending bluegrass and hip hop is more than a gimmick, it makes musical sense. If you watch Justified, you know the theme song by Gangstagrass (the name of Rench's group):

People generally love it or hate it. I am in the former camp, obviously.

What about historic precedent? Well, the banjo, now associated with white rural folk, was originally an African-American instrument before becoming a feature of minstrel shows.

538px-portrait_of_a_young_black_woman_2c_seated_2c_holding_nine_string_banjo_medium

And maybe it's not rapping, but country music did have a tradition of talking songs before it sold out and became warmed over classic rock. Here are three of the biggest, best examples:

Who is ready to redo "Ringo" as "Rubio"?

Will Cynical Jason sing "Big Bad Pek"?

And can any opponent's announcers correctly pronounce "A Boy Named Shved"?