Shuffled! Zoneil Maharaj
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Today’s Shuffler: Zoneil Maharaj
Zoneil Maharaj could tell you random stories of how his dad used to slaughter goats in his backyard, or how his elementary school was shot up by some deranged gunman (which resulted in Michael Jackson visiting the school), or how he used to perform petty scams in his boring hometown of Stockton, Calif. But Maharaj isn’t good at telling his own stories, which is why he focuses on telling the stories of others. He interviews folks, paraphrases their words or directly quotes them and tries to pass it off as journalism. Some people actually pay him for this. It’s a lazy hustle, and not a lucrative one at that. But he’s managed to do alright.
He’s a co-founder and editor-in-chief of indie arts and culture webzine Oh Dang! He’s also a volunteer music editor for non-profit Asian American magazine Hyphen, as well as a frequent contributor to Wiretapmag.org, PopandPolitics.com and Performer Magazine. He’s written for the San Francisco Chronicle, SF Weekly and Ethsix Magazine. He’s also been rejected for staff writing positions at numerous publications across the country (he really shouldn’t brag about this fact). He blames white people for this. Or maybe he just sucks. Or maybe it’s white people making him think that he sucks? Whatever the reason, he’s sure white people have something to do with it. It’s always white people…
He graduated from San Francisco State University in 2007. There, he worked for the Center for Integration and Improvement of Journalism as a writing coach for various high school outreach programs, including the Bay Area Multicultural Media Academy.
Immortal Technique once threatened to kick Maharaj’s ass if he misrepresented him in an article. (For the record, had any ish jumped off, Maharaj is bigger than Technique and prolly coulda taken him.) Boots Riley, Sage Francis, Madlib, Bambu and Kiwi were hella cool though.
Ready? On to the shuffle…
I’m broke, so I don’t own an mp3 player. I don’t even own a computer, but my brothers are generous enough to let me use theirs’ as I bounce between their homes. Come to think of it, I’m pretty much homeless. These are random tracks I get my bummy on to.
Method Man
Wu-Tang Clan
“Yeah, torture motherfucker … I’ll fuckin’, I’ll fuckin’ tie you to a bedpost with your ass cheeks spread out and shit, put a hanger on a fuckin’ stove and let that shit sit there for like a half hour, take it off and stick it in your ass slow like ‘Tssss…’”
Need I say more?
Retreat
Cursive
Cursive’s Happy Hollow is a biting criticism of religion from Tim Kasher, front man of the Omaha indie-rock outfit. But “Retreat” is spot on with my own religious views.
Growing up in a Hindu household in a Christian society confused the shit out of me, and I’ve been lost ever since. Like Kasher on “Retreat,” I’m not dismissing the idea of a God, I just wish folks would use more rational though rather than blindly following a religion. I’ve never understood the “mysterious ways” in which God(s) work or how fools could blow themselves up in the name of Allah. And I’ve got issues with girls who won’t give it up in the name of Jesus (I’ve never read the Bible, but I’m guessing somewhere it’s written that handjobs are a-okay).
I’m more than likely going to hell.
It Is What It Is
Iller Than Theirs ft. Cool Calm Pete
Iller Than Theirs’ self-titled debut, which dropped in September, is one of the few hip-hop records that I’ve really felt in the last few months. It’s a solid, fun and honest record with dope production. However, the Brooklyn duo aren’t extraordinary emcees and they get outshined by their guests: Masta Ace, Baje One of Junk Science and, in this case, Cool Calm Pete.
The Korean American emcee/producer lives up to his name with his lackadaisical approach. Quick-witted with a slow flow, Cool Calm Pedro drops an entertaining, somewhat rambling, verse on this one (Yo ease up, it’s not the end of the world / At least there’s lousy head from stuck-up girls / Doc told me to cut down on meats and cheeses / The belly of the beast got reflux diseases).
He’s never really said anything profound on a record. He’s not an amped-up activist like most Asian American emcees. He’s just a cat who raps for the sake of rapping and makes it sound dope.
Grown Shit
Mac Dre
Posthumous success has always bothered me since someone other than the artist who created the body of work is making money off it. I don’t know who’s pocketing the cash from the dozen or so Mac Dre albums that dropped after he was shot and killed three years ago, but every Bay Area rapper is trying to ride on his late fame. Even Zion I had a mixtape track featuring Mac Dre. Whatever.
Whenever any Mac Dre song comes on, I crack a smile. I think people took him way too seriously. I don’t know if he intended to be funny but, to me, dude was a comedic genius. Anyone who uses the line “Unborn kids, nut all on shit” in a hook had to be laughing as he wrote it.
Where the Cutthroat
Kill the Vultures
I recently came across this track via some music blog site (The Hype Machine maybe?). In its previous incarnation, Kill the Vultures was known as Oddjobs, a Minneapolis crew down with the Rhymesayers camp, before they broke up (producer Deetalx and emcee Nomi went on to form Power Struggle). Kill the Vultures might just be comprised of Crescent Moon now, since he’s the only one rapping on this toe-tapping, jazzy yet bleak track.
I really liked Oddjobs’ Drums and Expose Negative, their last two albums before they split up. I didn’t really give the Kill the Vultures stuff a thorough listen; I guess I wasn’t feeling the whole artsy avant-garde thing they had going on. This track, however, makes me want to head to Amoeba or Rasputin’s to dig for their CDs. Too bad I’m broke.
Last 5 posts by shuffled
- Shuffled! Adrian Tomine - May 15th, 2008
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