A Change of Pace

So, welcome back to the newsletter for this week. I had a very long think about this dispatch because it is different from before. If you are a new subscriber, welcome. Unless you’ve gone through the archive, this is the first time that you’ll be experiencing The Spins in this new twice-monthly format. Honestly, I thought for a long time about how I wanted to format this. It felt like doing my regular short intros with a video would not be quite enough for a standalone weekly post. So, I’ve decided to add another section to the affair.

These dispatches will start with The Obsessions, a rundown of some unrelated music thoughts that I have over the course of the past couple of weeks. I spend a lot of time having random music thoughts, and some of them are even interesting enough to write about. The back half, The Recommendations, will follow the same format as before: short intros into albums that I enjoyed over the previous weeks with an introductory video. So, with that said, let’s begin.

The Obsessions

Rap Names

So, I have been trying to develop an idea for a dispatch, and as a result, I have spent a lot of time thinking about rap music these past couple of weeks. One of the things that I have thought about is the XXL Freshman Class. Since 2007, XXL has named 10 or so young rappers to look out for in the future. Looking over the records, their hit rate is extremely high. Rappers who have been in a Freshman Class include the following: Kendrick Lamar, Megan Thee Stallion, Doechii, Lupe Fiasco, Freddie Gibbs, J. Cole, Future, Danny Brown, Chief Keef, Vince Staples, Denzel Curry, 21 Savage, Glorilla, Luh Tyler, Cash Cobain, and That Mexican OT. Whether you appreciate their style or not, it is undeniable to say that they are very popular and/or respected rappers.

With this in mind, I listened to the 2025 Freshman Class Cypher.

I am an old man, and I abide by one general principle in my rap life: if you can do a good freestyle, you can write a good rap. By this metric, the only people that stood out to me in this whole thing were Samara Cyn, Ray Vaughn, Eem Triplin, and BabyChiefDoIt. Gelo was alright; I didn’t hate it. It’s good to see that there are some actual good spitters coming up rather than a bunch of mumbling Future wannabes. Now, this is not why I actually wanted to talk about this. I wanted to address a scourge that is infesting the culture: terrible rap names.

In these very cyphers, we’ve got such gems of names as BabyChiefDoIt, a grammatically incorrect sentence; Lazer Dim 700; Ian, his name; Eem Triplin; and 1900Rugrat, a phone number you cannot call. What are these names? I’m not expecting brilliance, but I’m expecting better than 1900Rugrat. Or, if you are going to come with that bad of a rap name, you better be able to rap your ass off. Spoiler alert: He could not and he went so long in the cypher. I was listening to a series of tapes called The Lion’s Share by an MC named SUBSTANCE810 (this is the correct stylization) with production by Observe Since 98. Again, the tapes weren’t quite good enough to overcome the absolutely trash names. Their problem was that they fell a little too hard on 90s-2000s backpacker tropes for my taste. I’m washed, but I’m done with woe-is-me underground rappers. Y’all haven’t gotten over because your rhymes all sound the same.

If you are a rapper out there in the world, take this piece of advice from me: please make sure that when you choose your rap name, it won’t make the girl you’re trying to hook up with laugh in your face. You may have swag, but that’s not always enough. For example, I’m laughing in Lazer Dim 700’s face. Where are Lazer Dim 1 to 699? Why is your lazer dim? Do you need a battery? You should maybe pop into the CVS and buy a couple. Are you a car? Are you related to Mid-Sized Sedan? I’m also laughing at BabyChiefDoIt. Baby Chief do what? You’re all of 5 foot nothing. Can you even drive? Can you go to the doctor’s office alone? Do you need a legal guardian right now? How did you even get in this club?

Sleng Teng

This year celebrates the 40th anniversary of “Under Mi Sleng Teng,” a track by Wayne Smith that introduced the world to one of the most used riddims in dancehall: the Sleng Teng riddim. If you have a passing familiarity with dancehall, you have probably heard this riddim. You could have very well heard it through other music; it is a very popular beat. Anyway, if you would like to learn more about it, The New York Times wrote an article about its creation and influence on the digital era of dancehall music.

If you want to listen to a bunch of workings of this riddim, there is a compilation from VP Records called 1985 Sleng Teng Extravaganza. It’s about 50 minutes, and everyone goes hard. I had a great time listening to Johnny Osbourne, Wayne Smith, Sugar Minott, and others do their things over the riddim. I’m going to put one of my favorite uses of the riddim here: John Wayne’s “Call The Police.”

“Rusholme Ruffians”

The Smiths’ second album, Meat Is Murder, is appropriately maligned. It’s a generally dour affair with Morrissey in an overly preachy mode. While this is the case, there are absolutely sparkling tracks on it such as “Barbarism Begins At Home” and “I Want The One I Can’t Have.” Another one, and the one that has been in my head for the past week and change, is “Rusholme Ruffians.”

While it is not an upbeat song—it talks about a stabbing, a beating, and suicide while still believing in love—it is extremely catchy. Between Johnny Marr’s quickly strummed acoustic guitar and Andy Rourke’s expressive bass work, the song has this excellent swing that almost camouflages how actually dark the song is. It’s a phenomenal song on an otherwise flawed album.

The Recommendations

Sea Lemon - Diving For A Prize

This one came out a couple of months ago, but it has been in a steady rotation for me. This is her debut album, and it captures strains of nocturnal sophisti-pop, indie pop and shoegaze to make a beautiful, dreamy album. The first half of the album rolls by in a lovely cloud. Then the second half of the album picks up the pace and also features an appearance from Ben Gibbard. This album works well because it is beautifully sequenced, and I think that Natalie Lew, the woman behind Sea Lemon, has an excellent vision for this project.

Gelli Haha - Switcheroo

On Switcheroo, Gelli Haha mixes up synth pop, disco beats, and fun vocals to create a fun musical playground. While she is not going to blow you away with lyricism, Gelli Haha’s music aims to make you dance, and she more than succeeds at this goal. I dare you to listen to this album and not move. I think she would be a blast to see live.

Broncho - Natural Pleasure

I apologize for being in a bit of a dreamy phase right now. I can’t imagine why I would want to wrap myself in the embrace of reverb-laden vocals and heavily treated guitars. I have no idea at all. Anyway, this album is an absolute delight. It is a cohesive album that covers jangle pop, dream pop, indie rock, funk, disco, and R&B without breaking a sweat or going above a whisper. It gets better with repeat listens, especially as you start to see how much they are doing across the 41 minutes of this album.

Coral Grief - Air Between Us

Hailing from Seattle, which is also where Sea Lemon calls home, Coral Grief bring us a debut album full of post-punk-inflected dream pop. The lyrics of bassist Lena Farr-Morrissey are cryptic and speak to an uncertainty about the world. The music itself reflects their home: it is moody, but enchanting. There is a beauty at the center of this album that coexists with the darkness on its edges. This is an excellent album to put on your headphones and drift along with. Again, don’t know why I would want to do that.

JID - God Does Like Ugly

JID, who was a member of a XXL Freshman Class, follows up his 2022 album The Forever Story with another banger. While I could complain about the considerable amount of discussion of God on this album, I would have to level the same complaint at Kendrick. And, furthermore, it doesn’t matter because JID is one of the best technicians in the mainstream right now. He can flip in and out of double time with ease, and make complex internal rhymes sound simple. With the combination of complex rhymes and trunk-rattling beats, the album is just another display of what makes JID one of the best working right now.

Amaarae - BLACK STAR

I don’t need to use a bunch of words to describe this album. I can, in fact, use the following sentence: Imagine if brat was druggier, clubbier, and made by a Black woman. As soon as you start listening to this album, you’ll see how perfect that description is. The album slaps, but I do recommend listening to it at around sunset at the earliest. I listened to it at like 9 in the morning, and the party energy was entirely too high.

Susuma Yokota - Sakura

Through the ways of the internet, I discovered a box set of Susuma Yokota’s music has been made available by his label with the approval of his family. Having never heard of him but intrigued by the lovely box set, I started listening. Sakura is an album he released in 1999, and it is one of the finest pieces of ambient techno I’ve ever heard. It maintains the serenity and balance that all ambient club music aims for while never tipping over into soporific new age. Yokota shows a deft ability to control the mood on his album, using drums, guitars, synthesizers, vocal samples, and field recordings to various ends. This album made me want to listen to all of his other music and maybe even buy that aforementioned box set.

Alien Boy - You Wanna Fade?

I have been listening to this album for a little while, and I know that this will not be super interesting to most of you. That’s fine, but I figured I would throw it out there. Alien Boy is a band based out on Portland, Oregon, that mixes pop-punk urgency with shoegaze overdrive. While the conceit is simple, it is done extremely well. It’s much better than everyone out here just trying to ape the Deftones and Duster, which is still happening after five plus years. It is a quick listen despite its 44-minute run time.

That’s it for this week. Next week, I’m going to unleash a concept I came up with a while ago and have now gotten to a point where I can explain it coherently. In terms of listening, I have my eye on some things. We’ll see how they turn out. As always, take care of yourselves and each other.

Also, with everything happening, I want to reassert the need for D.C. to become a state. This newsletter is strongly pro-D.C. statehood, and it always will be. If you know people there, support their efforts for self-determination. Living in D.C. sucks because you’re under constant surveillance from at least three police forces that all can use lethal force. In addition, life in the city sucks because you inevitably know that something that can help out the vast majority of the city’s population will get overturned because some douchebag from Utah (let’s call him Mike Lee) is uncomfortable with the idea of Black people actually being able to govern themselves and with the idea of people working together to actually create an environment that benefits everyone fairly and justly. I’m off my soapbox now. Fuck Mike Lee.