I have spoke here before about Caetano Veloso, a Brazilian singer that I consider a genius. He's a fascinating character. In the '60's he was imprisoned and then exiled in London due to the Brazilian dictatorship, as he was perceived as a threatening, counter-cultural revolutionary. His ability to sculpt the Portuguese language in creative ways is well known in Brazil to the point where the verb caetanear exists, meaning to invent new words. A couple of months ago I was lucky enough to see him in concert, and he was tremendous. He is a very engaging performer, changing musical styles constantly. It is always good to see an older musician continuing to challenge themselves. He performed this song, which is in English, about his time in London:
Caetano Veloso - London, London
In 2006, Ghostface Killah released the hip hop album of the year with Fishscale, a magnificent album that doesn't suffer from the sprawling self indulgence of so much commercial hip hop. Then he followed it up with More Fish, the spin off album of bonus tracks, remixes etc, which manages to be almost as good. Maybe he was inspired by Sufjan Stevens Illinois and Avalanche double bill. Or maybe he wasn't. Anyway both albums I heartily recommend.
The reason I mention Caetano and Ghostface together is because of this track:
Ghostface Killah - Charlie Brown
which is based around a sample from this track:
Caetano Veloso - Alfomega
from the album Irene or the Soul Jazz Tropicalia compilation. The Ghostface track is a leftover that didn't make it on to either album, probably due to clearence issues. Produced by MF Doom, it shows how at its best, hip hop is the most open minded and creative music in the world. Together at last, as they say.
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