BenJacob.journo
A personalized news service dedicated to local journalism where ever I may be... and comics...
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Hip-hop Stories
Allston – If you were checking iTunes’ Top Ten Hip-Hop charts on September 13th, you may have noticed something out of the ordinary. While albums from Jay-Z, Kanye West and other hip-hop icons placed throughout the ranks, breaking in at number nine, between Eminem and 2pac, was “This is Our Science,” the latest album of an indie rapper from Minneapolis named Astronautalis.
That’s the rap name Charles Andrew Bothwell, 29, gave himself when he was fifteen and battle rapping in Jacksonville, Florida, but he goes by Andy when interviewed before the last show of the tour for “This is Our Science.”
“I was out bowling on the night the presale went out,” Bothwell says at O’Brien’s Pub in Allston, off the road from Philly after playing 41 shows in 45 days. “And I got a text message from my record label and they were like, ‘dude, we’re gonna need to make more of these.’ Because we were planning on making about a hundred. And it was just in the first five hours we had already broken every presale record they had had.”
The presale of the album crashed the sales website of New Haven based record label, Fake Four Inc., but they did not give specific details when asked.
In a time when listeners can get their music for free through illegal downloads “there’s no reason to pay for music,” Bothwell says. “You pay for music out of a show of support, it’s like a political vote. And to get that sort of affirmation before the album even came out was like – it was mind blowing! I was completely dumbfounded!”
For the rest of the story, go here!
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Benjamin-Cooper-Freelance-Journalist/303440223006366
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The River, The Woods
I interviewed Minneapolis rapper Astronautalis last month on the last show of his tour for “This is Our Science.” An enthusiastic story teller, he’s spent a vast amount of time touring and gathering experiences, good and bad.
“I’ve been to four continents, I’ve seen over 20 countries, I’ve seen almost every state in America except for Alaska and Hawaii.” He said, “But I don’t get to have traditional friendships and relationships with people and that sort of thing. So that’s certainly challenging but I also get to have an astounding amount of adventure and excitement in my life that most people don’t normally get to experience. You don’t sleep much. You eat terribly. You drink too much. You get sick. But on its absolute worst day it’s better than any other job I’ve ever had on its best day.”
When I sat down to write the feature (will probably be out later this week or next!) I couldn’t get one of his verses out of my head.
Incredibly poignant, this verse is from “The River, The Woods” off of “This is Our Science.”
“Keep your acres, my home is where my hat is hung,
postcard printed paper, and love notes from the lattice strung
blessed are the vagrant, the lonely are the static ones,
It’s every drifter’s confirmation this world is just ravishing.”
